PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


PRINCIPLES 


OF 


SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM 


BY 

REV.  CHARLES  H.  VAIL, 

Author  of  "  Modern  Socialism," 
•National  Ownership  of  Railways,"  Etc. 


CHICAGO 
CHARLES  H.  KBRR  &  COMPANY 

CO-OPERATIVE 


COPYRIGHT  1899, 

BY 

CHARLES  H.  VAIL. 


PREFACE. 


THE  Socialism  of  to-day  is  distinguished  from  the 
Utopian  theories  of  the  past  by  the  fact  that  it  is  scien- 
tific. All  great  movements  inevitably  pass  through  a 
Utopian  phase  and  Socialism  is  no  exception  to  the  gen- 
eral rule. 

Socialism  is  evolutionary  in  character.  There  have 
been  the  John  the  Baptists  of  the  new  order,  proclaiming 
the  way  of  peace  in  the  industrial  wilderness.  As  alchemy 
and  astrology  preceded  chemistry  and  astronomy,  so  the 
Utopias  of  Owenism,  Fourierism  and  Simonism  had  to 
precede  the  full  development  of  Scientific  Socialism. 

These  precursors  of  social  democracy  aimed  to  run 
society  into  a  special  mould.  In  the  absence  of  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  economic  laws  they  conceived  that 
an  industrial  system  was  something  society  could  put 
on,  as  a  man  puts  on  a  suit  of  clothes,  ready  made.  They 
thought  a  perfect  system  could  be  invented  and  super- 
imposed upon  society  through  propaganda.  Their  crude 
theories  corresponded,  as  Fredrick  Engels  has  pointed 
out,  to  the  crude  state  of  capitalist  production  and  to 
the  crude  state  of  the  classes.  Nevertheless,  these  men 
had  a  far-sighted  historic  penetration  and  sagacity.  They 

C5] 


6  PREFACE. 

were  admirable  critics  of  capitalist  methods,  depicting 
with  keenness  and  satire  the  evils  inherent  in  capitalist 
society,  but  they  had  not  the  data  to  enable  them  to 
clearly  perceive  the  genesis  of  capitalist  exploitation. 
The  Utopianists  did  well,  but  it  was  left  for  Karl  Marx 
to  clearly  point  out  the  source  of  surplus-value  and  the 
evolutionary  tendency  in  economics.  Marx  did  for 
economics  what  Darwin  did  for  biology.  The  dis- 
coveries of  Marx  placed  Socialism  upon  solid  ground 
and  reduced  it  to  a  science. 

Modern  Socialism,  then,  is  scientific  and  rests  upon  a 
historical,  economic  and  scientific  basis.  It  points  out 
with  accuracy  the  laws  of  social  and  economic  evolu- 
tion. 

Socialism  is  the  only  solution  of  modern  problems, 
and  a  clear  understanding  of  its  principles  and  purposes 
is  the  one  great  need  of  the  world  to-day.  To  explain 
the  principles  of  this  world-wide  movement,  and  thus 
aid  in  a  better  understanding  of  the  subject,  is  the  pur- 
pose for  which  this  book  has  been  written.  I  trust  that 
it  may  contribute  to  this  end  and  so  be  of  service  to  the 
cause.  With  this  hope  I  send  it  forth  on  its  mission. 

CHARLES  H.  VAIL. 
JERSEY  CITY,  N.  J. 
May,  1899. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PACK 

The  Industrial  Evolution 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Analysis  of  Value 35 

CHAPTER   HI. 

The  Origin  ef  Surnlus- Value 53 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Advantages  of  Socialism 66 

1.  Production 66 

2.  Distribution „ '. .  71 

3.  Elimination  of  Useless  Vocations. , 74 

4.  Prevention  of  Waste 78 

5.  Elevation  of  Woman 84 

6.  Proper  Care  and  Training  of  Children 87 

7.  Efficient  Directors 89 

8.  Solution  of  the  Monetary  Question 91 

9.  Abolition  of  Taxation 92" 

10.  Simplification  of  Government 93 

11.  Benefits  to  Capitalists ° 94 

12.  Benefits  to  Laborers 97 

CHAPTER   V. 

Evidences  of  the  Moral  Strength  of  Socialism 102 

1 .  Its  Spirit  and  Aim ..;.., 102 

2.  Its  Abolition  of  Business  Dishonesty. 106 

3.  Its  Restriction  of  Divorce no 

4.  Its  Prevention  of  Prostitution 1 1 1 

5.  Its  Elimination  of  Crime * 114 

6.  Its  Prevention  of  Intemperance,  Insanity,  etc 116 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Poverty  Its  Cause  and  Cure 122 


6  PREFACE. 

were  admirable  critics  of  capitalist  methods,  depicting 
with  keenness  and  satire  the  evils  inherent  in  capitalist 
society,  but  they  had  not  the  data  to  enable  them  to 
clearly  perceive  the  genesis  of  capitalist  exploitation. 
The  Utopianists  did  well,  but  it  was  left  for  Karl  Marx 
to  clearly  point  out  the  source  of  surplus-value  and  the 
evolutionary  tendency  in  economics.  Marx  did  for 
economics  what  Darwin  did  for  biology.  The  dis- 
coveries of  Marx  placed  Socialism  upon  solid  ground 
and  reduced  it  to  a  science. 

Modern  Socialism,  then,  is  scientific  and  rests  upon  a 
historical,  economic  and  scientific  basis.  It  points  out 
with  accuracy  the  laws  of  social  and  economic  evolu- 
tion. 

Socialism  is  the  only  solution  of  modern  problems, 
and  a  clear  understanding  of  its  principles  and  purposes 
is  the  one  great  need  of  the  world  to-day.  To  explain 
the  principles  of  this  world-wide  movement,  and  thus 
aid  in  a  better  understanding  of  the  subject,  is  the  pur- 
pose for  which  this  book  has  been  written.  I  trust  that 
it  may  contribute  to  this  end  and  so  be  of  service  to  the 
cause.  With  this  hope  I  send  it  forth  on  its  mission. 

CHARLES  H.  VAIL. 
JERSEY  CITY,  N.  J. 
May,  1899. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PACK 

The  Industrial  Evolution 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Analysis  of  Value 35 

CHAPTER   III. 

The  Origin  ef  Surolus- Value 53 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Advantages  of  Socialism 66 

1.  Production . . .  66 

2.  Distribution „ 71 

3.  Elimination  of  Useless  Vocations.  - 74 

4.  Prevention  of  Waste 78 

5.  Elevation  of  Woman 84 

6.  Proper  Care  and  Training  of  Children „ 87 

7.  Efficient  Directors 89 

8.  Solution  of  the  Monetary  Question 91 

9.  Abolition  of  Taxation 92 

10.  Simplification  of  Government 93 

11.  Benefits  to  Capitalists , 94 

12.  Benefits  to  Laborers 97 

CHAPTER   V. 

Evidences  of  the  Moral  Strength  of  Socialism 102 

1.  Its  Spirit  and  Aim. 102 

2.  Its  Abolition  of  Business  Dishonesty 106 

3.  Its  Restriction  of  Divorce 1 10 

4.  Its  Prevention  of  Prostitution 1 1 1 

5.  Its  Elimination  of  Crime <. 114 

6.  Its  Prevention  of  Intemperance,  Insanity,  etc.. ..  116 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Poverty  Its  Cause  and  Cure 122 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

PAOE 
Wage  Slavery  vs.  Chattel  Slavery ._ 132 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
Rent  and  Interest. 1 40 

CHAPTER   IX. 

The  Law  of  Wages 148 

CHAPTER   X. 
The  Law  of  Progress 161 

CHAPTER   XI. 
Industrial  Depressions  and  Commercial  Crises. .    176 

CHAPTER   XII. 
The  Problem  of  Labor-Saving  Machinery 191 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Popular  Economic  Errors 200 

1.  That  Value    is  Determined  by   Capitalist  Cost  of 

Production 200 

2.  That  the   Interests    of  Laborers  and  Capitalists 

are  Identical 207 

3.  That    Labor    is   Better    off    To-day   than    Ever 

Before 211 

4.  That  Cheap  Prices  are  Beneficial  to  Labor 214 

5.  That  Foreign  Markets  are  Beneficial  to  Labor.  . .   216 

6.  That  Luxury  is  Beneficial  to  Labor 218 

7.  That     Land    Nationalization    would    Solve    the 

Social  Question 219 

8.  That  Extravagance   is  the  Chief  Cause  of  Eco- 

nomic Want 222 

9.  That  Socialism    would    Thwart    Inventions    and 

Improvements 224 

10.  That  Socialism  would  Destroy  Individuality .....   226. 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

Conclusion 229 

INDEX 233 


PRINCIPLES 

OF 

SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   INDUSTRIAL   EVOLUTION. 

THE  economic  activity  of  man  is  of  two  kinds — 
isolated  and  social.  The  former  belongs  to  the  earliest 
stages  of  human  development.  Here  man,  as  yet  but 
little  differentiated  from  the  beasts  of  the  field,  closely 
resembles  them  in  his  economic  life.  This  is  precisely 
what  we  should  expect  when  we  realize  that  man  has 
gradually  developed  from  the  lower  animals.  Thus  we 
are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  the  wild  men  of  Australia 
never  co-operate  in  their  economic  efforts. 

In  the  course  of  time  the  family  arose,  and  with  the 
strengthening  of  the  family  relationship  there  grew  up 
the  unit  of  human  society.  But  the  economic  life  of  this 
social  unit  was  at  first  isolated,  beginning  and  ending 
in  itself;  Gradually  the  family  enlarged  and  grew  into 

[9] 


10       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

the  tribe,  and  the  rude  communism  of  the  early  ages 
with  its  social  economic  life  appeared.  This  early  com- 
munism finally  gave  way  to  slavery,  but  slavery  was  not 
incompatible  with  the  maintenance  of  a  communistic  or 
semi-communistic  tribal  system.  Finally  private  prop- 
erty displaced  communism,  and  with  new  conquests 
and  federations  slavery  became  the  principal  method  of 
production.  But  with  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
the  greatest  chattel  slave  empire  of  antiquity,  the  way 
was  prepared  for  feudalism.  After  the  downfall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  there  followed  a  period  of  transition,  but 
at  last  the  feudal  system  became  the  prevailing  organi- 
zation in  Western  Europe.  Free  labor,  however,  existed 
from  the  earliest  times  and  was  not  overcome  by  slavery 
or  feudalism.  Side  by  side  with  serfdom  there  was  a 
large  body  of  free  workers.  These  free  peasants  and  free 
artisans,  whatever  dues  the)  might  pay  to  their  lords  in 
return  for  privileges  or  services,  were  as  free  as  men  of 
that  day  could  be.  The  artisans  gathered  around  the 
castle  or  in  the  fortified  cities  for  protection  from  the 
robber  hordes,  and  there  carried  on  their  various  trades 
in  democratic  guilds  and  showed  time  and  again  that 
they  knew  how  to  protect  their  freedom  against  any  at- 
tempt at  encroachment  by  their  feudal  superiors  to 
whom  they  were  nominally  subject. 

In  the  interior  of  the  detached  provinces  into  which 
Europe  was  split  up  production  was  carried  on  chiefly 
for  home  use.  The  family  of  the  peasant  produced 
nearly  every  requisite  for  its  maintenance.  It  was 
only  the  excess  over  its  own  needs  and  the  tribute 
to  the  feudal  lord,  that  was  offered  for  sale.  That  which 
is  true  of  the  peasant  is  also  true  of  the  artificer,  as  he 
also  supplied  most  of  his  own  wants.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  he  possessed  his  own  garden  and  a  small  patch  of 
land,  and  had  use  of  the  commons  for  pasturage.  In 


THE  IND  USTRIAL  E  VOL  UTION.  1 1 

this  period  we  find  production  for  sale  greatly  increased. 
The  small  industry  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  for  several 
centuries  following,  rested  upon  the  individual  owner-: 
ship,  by  the  producers  themselves,  of  the  instruments 
of  production.  Both  laborer  and  capitalist  were  com- 
bined in  the  same  person  so  that  no  dispute  could  arise 
over  the  division  of  the  product.  The  laborer  owned  his 
own  tools,  purchased  or  produced  his  own  raw  materials, 
and  was  master  of  his  own  product.  In  this  period  prop- 
erty in  the  product  rested  upon  man's  individual  labor. 
As  the  means  of  production  in  this  age  were  adapted 
to  individual  use,  they  were  necessarily  paltry  and 
dwarfish. 

From  the  Middle  Ages  onward  a  master  workman, 
under  the  guild  regulations,  might  have  two  or  three  ap- 
prentices and  as  many  journeymen.  The  latter  worked 
for  daily  wages,  in  which  case  the  master  made  a  small 
profit,  and  might,  perhaps,  be  considered  an  embryonic 
capitalist,  but  he  was  prevented  by  the  strict  rules  of  the 
guild,  from  extending  the  number  of  his  helpers.  The 
guild  regulations  in  the  town  and  the  feudal  system  in 
the  country,  prevented  the  rise  of  capitalism  proper.  It 
was  not  until  after  the  overthrow  of  these  obstructions 
that  capitalism  developed.  But  the  guild  apprentices 
and  journeymen  worked  not  so  much  for  their  board  and 
wages,  as  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  themselves  for  mas- 
tership. Wage  labor  was  only  a  by-matter, — a  mere 
makeshift.  But  this  condition  endowed  the  master  with 
the  potentialities  of  a  .capitalist,  although,  as  yet,  he  was 
restrained  from  extending  his  power. 

The  money  capital,  formed  by  means  of  usury  and  com- 
merce, was  prevented,  as  we  have  seen,  from  being 
turned  into  industrial  capital,  by  the  feudal  constitution 
and  the  guild  organizations.  These  fetters  must  first 
be  broken  before  the  capitalist  regime  could  gain  a  foot- 


12       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

hold.  Capitalist  production  presupposes  the  perfect 
freedom  of  the  laborer.  To  be  free,  the  laborer  must 
not  be  attached  to  the  soil  as  a  serf  or  bound  by  the 
rules  of  the  guild.  Capitalist  production  also  presup- 
poses the  complete  separation  of  the  laborer  from  the 
means  whereby  he  realizes  his  labor.  It  was  the  dis- 
solution of  the  economic  structure  of  feudal  society  that 
set  free  the  elements  out  of  which  the  economic  struc- 
ture of  capitalistic  society  was  formed. 

In  1348  the  Black  Death  swept  over  England,  carry- 
ing off  one-third  of  the  population.  Labor  was  thus 
rendered  scarce  and  wages  immediately  rose.  Parliament 
enacted  the  noted  "  Statute  of  Laborers,"  decreeing  that 
wages  should  be  the  same  as  before  the  plague,  but  it 
did  not  avail.  The  laborers  went  where  they  could  se- 
cure the  highest  wages,  and  serfdom  was  virtually  at 
an  end.  The  nobles  and  landlords,  however,  did  not  at 
once  relinquish  their  efforts  to  secure  labor  at  the  old 
price.  Complaints  were  continually  made  to  Parliament 
that  the  "  Statute  of  Laborers  "  was  not  obeyed,  and  the 
statute  was  again  and  again  re-enacted  with  new  and 
severer  penalties,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  peasants  met 
this  effort  to  reinstate  the  old  order  by  combinations. 
They  organized  for  the  purpose  of  resisting  the  law. 
The  instigators  of  this  movement  were  Wiklif's  poor 
priests,  who  gained  the  confidence  of  the  peasants  and 
organized  them  for  the  revolt  which  occurred  in  1381. 
Although  the  insurgents  were  put  down  and  their  lead- 
ers captured  and  hanged,  still  the  victory  lay  with  them. 
In  spite  of  the  Acts  to  the  contrary,  the  rate  of  wages 
remained  high  and  was  finally  recognized  by  Parlia- 
ment. 

Serfdom  practically  vanished  by  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  leaving  the  great  mass  of  the  population 
free  peasant  proprietors.  The  wage  laborers  of  this 


THE  INDUS  TRIAL  E  VOL  UTION.  1 3 

period  were  few  in  number  and  each  possessed  a  cottage 
and  at  least  four  acres  of  land,  besides  having  access  to 
the  common  lands  for  pasturage  and  fuel.  This  was  the 
condition  of  labor  in  the  fifteenth  century,  which  has 
been  called  "  the  Golden  Age  "  of  English  labor.  Says 
Tames  E.  Thorold  Rogers,  M.  P.,  late  professor  in  Ox- 
ford University :  "  I  have  stated  more  than  once  that 
the  fifteenth  century  and  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth 
were  the  golden  age  of  the  English  laborer,  if  we  are  to 
interpret  the  wages  which  he  earned  by  the  cost  of  the 
necessaries  of  life.  At  no  time  were  wages,  relatively 
speaking,  so  high,  and  at  no  time  was  food  so  cheap  !  "  l 

Toward  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  begun 
the  revolution  which  laid  the  secure  foundation  of  the 
capitalist  system.  The  feudal  lords  having  impoverished 
themselves  by  the  French  wars  and  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses,  began  now  to  discharge  their  retainers.  The 
breaking  up  of  these  feudal  bands  gave  rise  to  the  first 
proletariat.  This  landless  class  was  also  increased  by  the 
act  of  Henry  the  VIII.  in  suppressing  the  monasteries 
and  evicting  the  monks. 

But  this  was  not  all.  The  impoverished  nobility,  being 
in  need,  began  raising  sheep  for  the  wool  market,  and  to 
this  end  they  evicted  the  peasantry  and  turned  the  land 
into  sheep-walks.  The  land  which  they  had  hitherto 
held  in  feudal  tenure  they  claimed  as  private  property. 
So  long  as  they  paid  large  sums  of  money  to  the  king 
he  cared  but  little  how  they  treated  the  peasants.  So 
they  forcibly  expropriated  and  expelled  the  agricultural 
population  and  fenced  in  the  common  lands.  Although 
complaint  was  often  made  of  the  enclosure  of  arable  and 
common  fields  and  bill  after  bill  passed  in  parliament  to 
prevent  this  evil,  still  the  process  went  on.  This  work 

i  Work  and  Wages,  Rogers,  Humboldt  Edition,  p.  73. 


14       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

of  spoliation  and  usurpation  was  carried  on  so  success- 
fully that  by  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  common  land  of  the  agricultural  laborer  and  the 
yeomanry  itself,  had  completely  disappeared.  Legisla- 
tion which  at  first  had  sought,  though  in  vain,  to  prevent 
the  theft  of  the  people's  land,  at  last  became  the  instru- 
ment through  which  the  spoliation  was  effected.  The 
landlords,  by  Parliamentary  Acts  for  enclosure,  granted 
to  themselves  the  people's  lands  as  private  property. 

This  expropriation  of  the  people's  means  of  produc- 
tion furnished  the  town  industries  with  a  mass  of  pro- 
letarians who  were  unfettered  by  the  guild  regulations. 
The  guilds,  however,  soon  ceased  to  be  a  menace  to  the 
rise  of  capitalism,  for  Henry  the  VIII.  suppressed  them 
and  confiscated  their  property.  Another  crime  which 
Henry  the  VIII.  committed  against  labor  was  the  issue 
of  debased  currency.  These  two  wrongs,  together  with 
the  robbery  of  the  people  of  their  land,  led  to  the  down- 
fall of  labor.  The  late  Prof.  Toynbee,  Tutor  of  Baliol 
College,  Oxford,  speaking  of  the  pauperism  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  says :  "  Farms  were  consolidated,  and 
arable  converted  into  pasture;  in  consequence,  where 
two  hundred  men  had  lived  there  were  now  only  two  or 
three  herdsmen.  ...  A  main  cause  of  th«  agrarian 
changes  was  the  dissolution  of  monasteries,  though  it 
was  one  that  acted  only  indirectly,  by  the  monastic  prop- 
erties passing  into  the  hands  of  new  men  w^o  did  not 
hesitate  to  evict  without  scruple.  About  the  same  time 
the  prices  of  provisions  rose  through  the  influx  of  the 
precio'us  metals  and  the  debasement  of  the  coinage.  .  .  . 
As  regards  the  growth  of  pauperism  in  towns,  the  main 
cause  may  be  found  in  the  confiscation  of  the  estates 
of  the  guilds  by  the  Protector  Somerset:  These  guilds 


THE  IND  US  TRIAL  E  VOL  UTION.  15 

had  been  practically  friendly  societies,  and  depended  far 
their  funds  upon  their  landed  properties."  * 

The  laborer's  condition  was  still  further  degraded  by 
the  Act  of  Elizabeth  which  established  seven  years  as  a 
necessary  apprenticeship  and  endowed  the  justices- — 
those  who  were  interested  in  keeping  the  wages  down — 
with  power  to  fix  the  rate  of  remuneration. 

This  whole  despicable  process  of  spoliation  and 
usurpation  resulted  in  creating  for  the  town  industries  a 
large  supply  of  "  free  and  outlawed  proletariat."  The 
peasants,  robbed  of  their  means  of  production  and  of 
the  guarantee  of  existence  afforded  by  the  feudal  regime, 
had  no  alternative  but  to  sell  themselves  into  wage  slav- 
ery. The  method  of  exploitation  now  becomes  trans- 
formed. The  beginnings  of  this  refined  method  of  fleec- 
ing, called  capitalism,  began  as  early  as  the  fourteenth 
century  in  certain  towns  along  the  Mediterranean,  but 
the  capitalist  era  proper  dates  from  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

Capitalist  production,  then,  may  be  said  to  begin  when 
a  comparatively  large  number  of  laborers  are  engaged  by 
one  employer  in  the  production  of  commodities.  The 
early  stage  of  manufacture  is  hardly  distinguished  from 
the  handicraft  trades  of  the  guilds,  except  by  the  larger 
number  of  workmen  employed  by  the  same  capital.  In 
this  period  of  manufacture,  which  extends  from  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  to  the  last  third  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  co-operation,  based  on  the  division 
of  labor,  assumed  its  typical  form.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  manufactural  age,  men  of  the  various  in- 
dependent handicrafts  were  assembled  in  large  work- 
shops, each  performing  his  distinctive  work, — as,  for  in- 
stance, the  production  of  wagons  required  the  services 

i  77' e  Industrial  Revolution,  Toynbee,  pp.  97,  98. 


1 6       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

of  wheelwrights,  locksmiths,  painters,  etc. ;  or,  in  other 
instances,  where  each  artificer  performed  all  the  opera- 
tions requisite  to  the  production  of  the  finished  com- 
modity. This  form  of  production  represents  the  ele- 
mentary stage  of  co-operation.  In  the  course  of  time 
the  work  was  gradually  differentiated,  and  instead  of 
one  man  performing  in  succession  the  various  opera- 
tions, some  definite  work  is  assigned  to  each.  The  com- 
modity now  becomes  a  social  product. 

Manufactures  arise,  then,  by  the  association  of  various 
distinct  handicrafts,  and  also  by  the  association  of  the 
artificers  of  a  single  handicraft.  In  both  cases  division 
of  labor  was  gradually  introduced,  each  operation,  how- 
ever, continuing  to  be  done  by  hand,  and  so  remaining 
dependent  on  the  skill  and  dexterity  of  the  workmen. 
Division  of  labor  is  the  characteristic  principle  of  manu- 
facture. By  this  division  of  labor  the  productive  power 
of  labor  is  greatly  increased.  The  laborer  who  only 
performs  one  single  operation  becomes  more  efficient 
than  the  artificer  who  performs  a  whole  series  of  opera- 
tions in  succession.  The  transition  from  one  operation 
to  another  necessitates  much  loss  of  time.  Moreover, 
where  the  work  is  specialized  the  workman's  methods 
become  perfected,  and  he  learns  how  to  accomplish  a 
given  result  with  the  least  expenditure  of  time  and  exer- 
tion. 

The  chief  characteristic  that  marks  the  age  of  manu- 
factures from  that  of  modern  mechanical  or  grand  in- 
dustry, which  began  with  the  last  third  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  is,  that  in  the  former  the  revolution  in  the  mode 
of  production  began  with  the  labor-power,  while  in  the 
latter  it  began  with  the  instruments  of  labor. 

Let  us  glance  at  some  of  the  inventions  which  resulted 
in  revolutionizing  industrial  methods.  In  1750  the  fly- 
shuttle  was  invented  by  Kaye  of  Bury.  I&  1760  im- 


THE  IND USTRIAL  E VOL  UTION.  1 7 

provements  were  made  in  the  carding  process.  In  1769 
the  spinning-frame  was  introduced  by  Arkwright,  and 
Watt  took  out  his  patent  for  the  first  steam-engine.  In 
1770  the  spinning-jenny  was  patented  by  Hargreaves.  In 
1779  the  mule-jenny  was  invented  by  Crompton.  In 
1785  the  power-loom  was  invented  by.  Cartwright.  In 
1792  the  cotton-gin  was  invented  by  Whitney.  The  re- 
sult of  these  mechanical  inventions  was  the  complete 
change  of  the  method  of  production. 

Fully  developed  machinery  consists,  as  Marx  pointed 
out,  of  three  distinct  factors, — the  motor  mechanism, 
the  transmitting  mechanism,  and  the  tool  or  working 
machine.  It  was  with  this  last  factor  that  the  industrial 
revolution  began ;  that  is,  the  apparatus  and  tools  used 
by  the  handicraftsman  and  manufacturing  workman 
were  fitted  into  the  body  of  machines,  so  that  the  mechan- 
ism performed  the  work  previously  done  by  the  work- 
men. Here,  then,  is  the  real  distinction ;  it  consists  in 
taking  the  tool  from  the  handicraftsman  and  fitting  it 
into  a  mechanism.  This  accomplished,  a  machine  sur- 
plants  the  mere  implement,  and  it  is  of  no  consequence 
whether  the  motive  power  is  derived  from  man  or  from 
some  other  source.  In  fact,  many  machines,  such  as 
sewing  and  bread-making  machines,  are  constructed  to 
be  operated  either  by  human  or  by  mechanical  motive 
power.  Of  course,  even  in  the  manufactural  age,  crude 
machines  were  invented  and  implements  for  which 
previously  the  motive  power  had  been  furnished  by  man, 
were  operated  by  animal,  water,  and  wind  power.  But 
at  this  time  machinery  played  a  subordinate  part  as  com- 
pared with  the  division  of  labor.  These  machines  pro- 
duced no  revolution  in  industry,  and  are  hardly  worthy 
of  the  name. 

"  The  machine,  which  is  the  starting-point  of  the 
industrial  revolution,  supersedes  the  workman,  who 


1 8        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

handles  a  single  tool,  by  a  mechanism  operating  wttli  a 
number  of  similar  tools,  and  set  in  motion  by  a  single 
motive-power,  whatever  the  form  of  that  power  may  be. 
Here  we  have  the  machine,  but  only  as  an  elementary 
factor  of  production  by  machinery. 

"  Increase  in  the  size  of  the  machine,  a*id  in  the  num- 
ber of  its  working  tools,  calls  for  a  more  massive 
mechanism  to  drive  it ;  and  this  mechanism  requires,  in 
order  to  overcome  its  resistance,  a  mightier  moving 
power  than  that  of  man."  l 

This  required  motive-power  was  furnished  by  Watt's 
steam-engine  which  furnished  a  power  sufficient  to  drive 
a  number  of  machines  simultaneously.  With  the  appli- 
cation of  steam  to  manufacturing  the  industrial  revolu- 
tion was  speedily  effected.  Along  with  this  revolution 
in  the  tool  came  the  revolution  of  labor ;  the  skill  of  the 
workman  was  transferred  to  the  machine.  The  division 
of  labor  in  the  factory  consists  of  the  distribution  of 
workmen  among  specialized  machines.  Here  the 
machine  makes  use  of  the  workman  instead,  as  in  handi- 
craft, of  the  workman  making  use  of  the  tool.  As  soon 
as  the  tool  is  transformed  into  the  machine,  this  instru- 
ment of  labor  competes  with  the  laborer.  The  work 
formerly  done  by  the  skilled  mechanic  is  now  performed 
by  the  machine.  The  effect  of  these  improvements  is 
not  only  to  render  labor  superfluous,  but  also  to  substi- 
tute the  less  skilled  for  the  more  skilled,  the  female  for 
male,  the  child  for  adult. 

Prof.  Ely,  in  speaking  of  this  industrial  revolution', 
says :  "  Capital,  taking  advantage  of  the  inventions  in 
industry  and  the  improvement  of  means  of  communica- 
tion and  transportation  brought  about  by  these  inven- 
tions, was  able  to  extend  production  and  to  carry  it  on  on 

1  Capital,  Marx,  p.  228. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  EVOLUTION.  19 

a  scale  of  increasing  magnitude.  This  production  upon  a 
vast  scale,  based  upon  a  far-reaching  division  of  labor,  be- 
came essentially  social  production.  Armies  of  men  work 
together  in  single  or  allied  establishments,  each  one 
doing  his  own  small  part  of  a  vast  whole.  Capitalistic 
production  passed  out  of  the  shop  and  entered  the  fac- 
tory. The  master  workman  gave  place  to  the  captain 
of  industry,  and  journeymen  and  apprentices  to  regi- 
ments of  wage-earners."  l 

Industry,  then,  has  passed  through  three  well-marked 
stages  of  development : 

1.  The   Handicraft  Stage,   which  was   the  period   of 
small  production.     In  the  latter  part  of  this  period  the 
laborer  owned  the  few  instruments  of  labor,  and  the  re- 
sults of  his  labor  were  his  without  deduction.     No  em- 
ployer made  a  profit  out  of  his  labor.     Both  laborer  and 
capitalist  were  combined  in  the  same  person.    The  only 
qualification  that  needs  to  be  made  is,  that  from  the 
Middle  Ages  onward,   under  the  guild   regulations,   a 
master  workman  might  have  two  or  three  apprentices 
and  as  many  journeymen.     As  the  journeymen  worked 
at  daily  wages,  the  master,  of  course,  was  enabled  to 
make  a  small  profit  out  of  his  labor,  and  so,  perhaps, 
might  be  considered  an  embryonic  or  potential  capitalist. 
But,  as  we  have  seen,  where  wage-labor  existed  it  was 
only  a  by-matter ;  the  journeymen  worked,  not  so  much 
for  wages,  as  to  fit  themselves  for  mastership. 

2.  The  Manufacturing  Stage,  which  was  the  period  of 
manufactures.    In  this  stage,  beginning  in  the  middle  of 
the   sixteenth    century,    the    capitalist    proper    appears, 
though  only  half-fledged.     The  chief  characteristics  of 
this  era  were  the  employment  of  artisans  in  manufac- 
tories and  the  division  of  labor.     Wage-labor,  hitherto 

«  Socialism  and  Social  Reform,  Ely,  p.  52. 


20        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

the  exception,  now  becomes  the  general  rule.  The  rea- 
son that  laborers  were  compelled  to  submit  to  wage- 
conditions  has  already  been  considered.  We  reach  here 
the  stage  of  capitalist  production,  and  the  rise  of  profits 
proper  which  become  the  source  of  further  capital,  but 
the  capitalist  system  is,  as  yet,  undeveloped,  and  ex- 
tends to  relatively  few  industries. 

3.  The  Factory  Stage,  which  is  the  period  of  modern 
or  grand  industry.  This  stage  which  began  in  the  last 
third  of  the  eighteenth  century,  is  marked  by  a  remark- 
able series  of  inventions  and  discoveries,  which  com- 
pletely revolutionized  industry.  With  the  incoming  of 
the  machine  the  race  for  fortune  and  wealth  began.  The 
chief  characteristics  which  mark  the  beginning  of  this 
age  have  already  been  considered. 

NOTE  : — The  different  periods  of  industry  vary  somewhat  in 
different  countries.  We  have  chosen  England  as  an  illustration, 
because  her  economic  data  is  more  complete,  and  her  history  o\ 
the  expropriation  of  the  agricultural  laborer  assumes  the  classical 
form. 

In  America,  owing  to  the  newness  of  the  country,  the  capital- 
ist system  was  at  first  slower  in  its  development.  This  was  due 
chiefly  to  the  unbounded  resources  and  natural  opportunities. 
The  old  world  had  been  in  the  Handicraft  Stage  of  production  for 
centuries  when  America  was  discovered,  and  En  gland  at  the  time 
of  Columbus  was  about  to  pass  into  the  Manufacturing  Stage. 
During  our  Colonial  days  we  were  chiefly  an  agricultural  nation, 
and  this  condition  continued  down  to  the  war  of  1812.  "  Before 
these  hostilities,"  says  Prof.  Ely,  "our  chief  pursuits  were  com- 
merce and  agriculture,  while  manufactures  were  insignificant. 
There  was  more  or  less  manufacturing  industry,  but  it  was  pursued 
in  small  shops  where  the  proprietor  worked  with  his  own  hands, 
assisted  by  two  or  three  journeymen  and  one  or  two  apprentices. 
There  was,  for  example,  always  the  village  carpenter  and  shoe- 
maker, and  the  blacksmith  at  the  country  cross-roads.  But  man- 
ufacturing on  a  large  scale  could  scarcely  be  said  to  exist,  and  it 
was  even  in  Europe  only  in  the  early  stages  of  its  development, 
for  the  '  industrial  revolution '  had  but  recently  begun."  Pro- 
blems of  To-day,  p.  48. 

At  the  beginning  of  our  National  existence,  then,  America  was 


THE  IND  US  TRIAL  E  VOL  U  TION.  2 1 

These  periods,  however,  like  geological  epochs,  over- 
lap each  other.  Thus,  the  handicraft  and  manufacturing 
industries  still  survive  as  relics  of  an  antiquated  age,  but 
not,  however,  without  many  alterations  due  to  the  reac- 
tion of  the  factory  system.  Modern  handicraft  and 
manufacture  have  been  greatly  affected  by  the  modern 
age  in  which  they  survive.  They  are  reproduced,  as  it 
were,  in  the  background  of  modern  industry,  though 
they  are  somewhat  changed  in  character.1 

The  whole  history  of  economic  development,  then, 
is  marked  by  the  downfall  of  the  small  producer.  The 
industrial  revolution  has  marched  steadily  onward,  leaving 

chiefly  in  the  era  of  small  production,  although  the  period  of 
manufactures,  which,  in  England,  was  introduced  in  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  already  beginning.  But  industrial, 
like  physical,  evolution  tends  to  reproduce  itself  in  rapid  succes- 
sion. The  development  here  was  hastened  by  the  war  of  1812 
which  destroyed  our  commerce  and  diverted  the  capital  and  labor, 
that  formerly  had  obtained  employment  in  international  trade,  to 
manufacturing.  Says  Prof.  Taussig,  "  Establishments  for  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  goods,  woolen  clothes,  iron,  glass,  pottery, 
and  other  articles  sprang  up  with  a  mushroom  growth."  There 
were  but  four  cotton  factories  in  this  country  in  1803,  when  new 
machinery  and  new  methods  began  to  be  introduced.  In  1805 
the  number  of  spindles  was  4500,  in  1815  the  number  had  increased 
to  130,000. 

We  pass  very  rapidly  through  the  era  of  manufacture  proper 
into  the  era  of  modern  mechanical  industry.  But  owing  to  our 
cheap  and  free  land,  which  secured  a  livelihood  to  so  many,  our 
industries  did  not  develop  rapidly  during  the  first  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  We  were  still,  in  a  large  measure,  an  agricul- 
ral  people,  and  handicraft  and  manufacturing  production,  with 
some  modifications,  held  the  field  in  many  directions.  But  since 
the  civil  war,  the  factory  system  has  had  a  phenomenal  growth, 
and  is  now  rapidly  taking  on  the  trust  form.  Although  the  United 
States  was  behind  Europe  in  getting  started  in  the  industrial  evo- 
lution, nevertheless  she  has  outstripped  her  competitors,  and  is 
to-day  nearer  the  consummation  than  any  other  country. 

1  For  full  exposition  of  Machinery  and  Modern  Industry,  see 
Marx'  Capital,  Part  IV.  Chapter  XV. 


22        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM, 

an  ever-increasing  number  of  propertyless  proletarians 
in  its  wake.  The  small  farm  and  factory  has  found  it 
more  and  more  difficult  to  compete  with  production  on 
a  large  scale.  The  time  is  near  at  hand  when  all  the 
small  agriculturalists  and  industrialists  will  be  divorced 
from  the  means  of  production  and  will  help  swell  the 
proletariat  class. 

Not  only  can  we  see  the  doom  of  these  two  classes, 
but  also  the  downfall  of  the  small  capitalist.  The  field 
is  becoming  narrowed  as  the  triumphal  march  of  con- 
centration goes  rapidly  forward.  As  the  great  bulk  of 
the  population  is  dependent  on  the  capitalist  class,  so  the 
capitalist  class  as  a  whole  is  becoming  dependent  on  a 
few  who  are  veritable  kings  in  the  economic  realm.  The 
small  merchant  is  also  on  the  same  downward  grade. 
The  department  store  is  supplanting  the  small  store. 

This  process  of  extermination  has  been  greatly  ac- 
celerated by  the  various  phases  which  this  modern  me- 
chanical era  has  assumed.  We  have  seen  how  the  era 
of  manufacture  was  gradually  transformed  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  division  of  labor,  and  so  prepared  for  the 
next  stage  of  development.  In  like  manner  the  era  of 
modern  mechanical  industry  has  been  taking  on  several 
forms.  In  the  beginning  of  this  era  we  find  both  individ- 
ual and  limited  partnership  owners  of  the  machinery  of 
production.  But  as  machinery  developed  and  the  waste 
of  competition  necessitated  the  massing  of  large  capitals 
that  production  might  be  cheapened  and  rivals  under- 
sold, it  has  become  more  and  more  difficult  for  the  in- 
dividual capitalist  to  furnish  the  requisite  means,  and  so 
the  joint-stock  company  has  arisen. 

The  origin  of  the  joint-stock  company  completed  the 
evolution  of  the  capitalist.  We  have  seen  how  at  first 
he  was  a  manual  laborer  working  with  his  men,  but  the 
possession  of  a  little  wealth  raised  him  above  manual 


THE  IND  US  TRIAL  E  VOL  U  TION.  23 

labor,  and  he  became  a  mental  laborer,  a  manager,  who 
received  wages  of  superintendence.  But  the  possession 
of  more  wealth  raised  him  above  even  the  labor  of  di- 
rection, and  he  handed  this  function  over  to  an  employe, 
thus  becoming  a  mere  interest  or  profit  receiver.  The 
capitalists  united  in  a  joint-stock  company  do  not  pre- 
tend to  labor,  but  hire  a  manager  in  whose  hands  they 
place  their  capital,  and  whose  business  it  is  to  make 
profits  for  the  stockholders.  The  whole  capitalist  class, 
as  such,  have  thus  become  superfluous,  the  services 
previously  rendered  by  them  being  handed  over  to  hired 
managers.  Says  Sidney  Webb :  "  The  older  economists 
doubted  whether  anything  but  banking  and  insurance 
could  be  carried  on  by  joint-stock  enterprise :  now 
every  conceivable  industry,  down  to  baking  and  milk- 
selling,  is  successfully  managed  by  the  salaried  officers 
of  large  corporations  of  idle  shareholders.  More  than 
one-third  of  the  whole  business  of  England,  measured  by 
the  capital  employed,  is  now  done  by  joint-stock  com- 
panies, whose  shareholders  could  be  expropriated  by  the 
community  with  no  more  dislocation  of  the  industries 
carried  on  by  them  than  is  caused  by  the  daily  purchase 
of  shares  on  the  Stock  Exchange."  1 

The  next  phase  of  this  evolution  was  the  union  of 
these  companies  into  a  trust.  The  appearance  of  the 
trust  upon  the  industrial  horizon,  which  has  resulted 
from  the  concentration  of  business  in  fewer  hands,  is  the 
most  significant  phenomenon  of  the  present  day.  This 
gradual  development  of  competing  Industries  into  mon- 
opolies is  destined,  at  no  distant  future,  to  usher  in  the 
Co-operative  Commonwealth.  One  who  understands 
the  causes  which  have  led  to  the  substitution  of  com- 
bination for  competition,  well  knows  the  impossibility 
of  ever  returning  to  the  latter.  The  choice  must  be 
*  Fabian  Essays,  Humboldt  Edition,  pp.  25,  26. 


24       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

made  between  monopoly  under  private  control  and 
monopoly  under  public  control,  for  monopoly,  in  some 
form,  is  certain  to  obtain.  As  the  corporation  is  more 
powerful  than  the  individual,  so  the  trust  is  more  power- 
ful than  the  corporation.  Combination  in  one  industry 
necessitates  combination  in  all.  The  efficiency  of  capital 
in  large  masses  is  what  has  been  called  the  law  of  in- 
dustrial gravitation.  Associated  capital  and  machinery 
are  necessary  to  effective  and  economical  production. 
The  return  to  the  days  of  competition  and  small  things 
would  constitute  a  reversal  of  all  progress.  The  business 
of  the  future  must  be  done  by  organized  capital ;  it  is  the 
only  way  the  needs  of  the  people  can  be  met.  The 
quicker  this  is  realized  the  better.  To  all  quack  proposi- 
tions we  must  offer  a  steady  and  unflinching  resistance. 

The  question  is,  Shall  we  have  organized  capital  in 
the  hands  of  individuals,  or  in  the  hands  of  society  ? 
The  choice  is  not  between  competition  and  combination 
for  the  former  is  rapidly  disappearing.  Combination 
either  of  the  few  or  of  the  many  is  inevitable.  Combina- 
tion is  the  socialistic  way  of  doing  business;  competi- 
tion is  the  individualistic  way.  Every  trust  virtually  ad- 
mits the  truth  of  Socialist  charges,  that  competition  is 
wasteful,  and  that  by  combination  the  cost  of  production 
is  greatly  reduced  and  harmony  restored  in  the  indus- 
trial realm. 

Industry,  as  we  have  seen,  has  successively  passed 
from  the  Handicraft  Stage  of  production  into  the  era  of 
manufactures,  and  from  thence  into  modern  mechanical 
industry,  and  this  era  has  evolved  into  the  corporate  or 
joint-stock  stage  and  is  now  rapidly  taking  on  the  form 
of  monopoly.  But  this  monopolistic  strfge,  which  we 
have 'entered,  is  not  the  end,  for  as  individuals  have 
combined  into  corporations  and  corporations  into  trusts, 
so  trusts  will  combine  into  a  Co-operative  Common- 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  EVOLUTION  2$ 

wealth.  This  being  logical  is  inevitable.  In  economic 
evolution  there  is  no  retrogression.  It  is  only  in  uni- 
versal combination  that  a  complete  consummation  can 
be  attained.  Trusts  must  combine  into  a  great  trust — the 
Nation.  There  is  no  more  possibility  of  our  re-entering 
any  of  the  past  eras  of  production  from  which  we  have 
evolved  than  there  is  of  the  butterfly  re-entering  the 
chrysalis.  The  stage  of  handicraft  and  manufacturing, 
and  even  the  competitive  stage  of  modern  mechanical  in- 
dustry has  passed,  or  is  rapidly  passing,  into  innocuous 
desuetude.  As  slavery  gave  way  to  feudalism  and 
feudalism  to  capitalism,  so  capitalism  must  give  way  to 
Socialism.  But  everything  in  its  own  order,  first  the 
blade,  then  the  ear,  and  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear. 
Socialism  is  the  full  corn  in  the  ear,  and  will  come  as  the 
final  consummation  of  the  industrial  development. 

Many  express  a  fear  of  Socialism  without  realizing 
that  one  form  of  Socialism  is  already  here, — the  pluto- 
cratic. This  plutocratic  Socialism — Socialism  without 
democracy — is  the  only  form  we  need  to  fear.  The  trust 
utilizes  the  methods  of  Socialism — combination,  co- 
operation and  co-ordination — to  get  the  best  results  from 
man  and  nature  without  the  Socialist  aim  and  spirit. 
The  trust  is  simply  Socialism  for  the  benefit  of  the  few. 
The  trust,  however,  has  come,  and  come  to  stay.  The 
only  solution  of  the  problem  is  that  which  has  been 
pointed  out, — the  socialization  of  the  trust,  that  the  bene- 
fits now  monopolized  by  the  few  may  become  the  in- 
heritance of  all.  The  choice  must  be  made  between 
plutocratic  Socialism  and  democratic  Socialism. 

We  have  seen  how  the  industrial  revolution  has 
wrought  the  downfall  of  the  small  producers  and  dis- 
tributers, so  that  to-day  the  great  instruments  of  pro- 
duction and  distribution  are  social  in  character,  though 
as  yet  under  private  control  We  have  also  seen 


26       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

how  the  industrial  revolution  resulted  in  the  loss  of  con- 
trol by  the  workers  of  the  instruments  of  production, 
and  the  reduction  of  the  once  independent  handicrafts- 
men and  agriculturalists  to  the  level  of  wage-slaves.  The 
transformation  of  the  limited  implements  of  production 
into  mighty  powers  resulted  in  turning  them  into  social 
instruments,  thus  precluding  individual  ownership  on 
the  part  of  the  workers.  The  vast  cost  of  the  new 
machinery  and  the  large  amount  of  capital  required  for 
the  new  methods  of  production,  gave  rise  to  a  capitalist 
class — the  owners  of  the  instruments  of  production. 

The  laborers  must  have  access  to  the  means  of  pro- 
duction or  starve  ;  but  this  access  is  obtainable  only 
through  the  competitive  wage.  The  ownership  of  the 
means  of  production  gives  men  power  over  their  fellows. 
Men  being  unable  to  employ  themselves  are  obliged  to 
sell  their  liberties  for  the  opportunity  of  earning  a  mere 
existence.  In  the  words  of  Bebel,  "  The  basis  of  all  op- 
pression is  economic  dependence  on  the  oppressor." 
This  condition  of  oppression  has  been  heightening  with 
the  development  of  capitalism.  Just  in  proportion  as  the 
instruments  of  production  have  been  monopolized  by  a 
few,  social  misery,  industrial  servitude,  and  political  de- 
pendence have  increased.  This  monopoly  of  the  imple- 
ments of  livelihood  forms  the  basis  of  every  kind  of  deg- 
radation. Hence  the  necessity  of  a  speedy  consummation 
of  the  industrial  development.  This  is  in  order  that  we 
may  attain  economic  freedom — the  basis  of  all  freedom. 
For  if  the  laborers'  servitude  is  caused  through  the  ap- 
propriation by  a  class  of  the  means  of  production,  their 
emancipation  can  only  be  realized  by  their  again  becom- 
ing owners  of  the  means  of  labor.  Although  individual 
ownership  is  impossible, — owing  to  the  subdivision  of 
labor  and  the  immense  scale  of  production, — still,  the 
solution  is  not  hopeless,  for  the  change  in  the  method  of 


THE  IND  US  TRIAL  E  VOL  UTION.  2  7 

production  points  out  to  us  the  solution  of  the  problem. 
We  have  seen  that  the  industrial  revolution  has  resulted 
in  socializing  the  method  of  production ;  therefore  the 
instruments  of  production  should  also  become  socialized 
to  correspond  with  the  socialized  method.  As  tools  are 
used  in  common  they  should  be  owned  in  common.  The 
private  ownership  of  the  instruments  of  production  is 
becoming  more  and  more  incompatible  with  the  nature 
of  these  instruments.  Their  magnitude  and  social  char- 
acter mark  them  for  social  ownership  and  control.  The 
whole  conflict  in  the  industrial  realm  to-day  is  due  to 
a  failure  to  recognize  the  social  character  and  nature 
of  the  instruments  and  methods  of  production.  Al- 
though the  method  of  production  has  changed,  the 
method  of  appropriation  remains  unaltered.  Social  pro- 
duction, with  capitalist  ownership  of  the  instruments, 
means  capitalist  appropriation  of  the  results  of  social 
labor.  Property  which  originally  rested  upon  individual 
labor  now  rests  upon  capitalist  exploitation.  Let  us 
abolish  this  incongruity  between  social  production  and 
capitalist  appropriation  by  restoring  to  the  people  the 
control  of  their  economic  interests.  Although  it  is  im- 
possible for  them  as  individuals  to  regain  this  control, — 
for  the  industrial  system  of  the  future,  as  we  have  seen, 
must  be  systematized, — nevertheless,  they  can  bring 
these  interests  under  collective  control,  substituting  for 
the  present  irresponsible  rule  of  the  few,  responsible  pub- 
lic agents  who  will  manage  the  affairs  of  society  in  the 
interests  of  society. 

Every  industry  that  has  reached  its  trust  stage  of  de- 
velopment is  eminently  ripe  for  appropriation  by  the 
community.  It  is  useless  to  say  that  an  enterprise  can- 
not be  managed  by  society  when  it  is  being  managed  by 
a  group  of  capitalists.  The  board  of  directors — who  as 
a  rule  do  not  own  the  capital  invested — can  as  readily 
be  made  responsible  to  society  as  to  the  shareholders. 


28        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

The  directors  in  charge  at  the  time  of  transition  could 
be  retained,  if  thought  advisable,  simply  making  them 
responsible  to  all  the  people  instead  of  to  the  few  favored 
stockholders.  Socialism  is  thus  seen  to  be  practical  as 
well  as  inevitable.  The  realization  of  this  final  stage  of 
industrial  development  is  nearer  than  many  think. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  How  is  this  transformation  to  be 
effected  ?  We  now  come  to  the  mission  of  the  modern 
proletariat.1  The  proletariat — the  fourth  estate — has  a 
mission  to  perform,  and  that  mission  is  the  abolition  of 
wage  slavery.  Says  Buckle,  "  No  great  political  im- 
provement, no  great  reform,  either  legislative  or  execu- 
tive, has  ever  been  originated  in  any  country  by  its 
rulers."  Wendell  Phillips  corroborates  this  truth  in  the 
following  language :  "  No  reform,  moral  or  intellectual, 
ever  came  -from  the  upper  classes  of  society.  Each  and 
all  came  from  the  protest  of  the  martyrs  and  victims. 
The  .emancipation  of  the  working  people  must  be 
achieved  by  the  working  people  themselves." 

We  have  traced  the  transformation  of  the  economic 
order  since  the  Middle  Ages,  through  its  varied  stages, 
and  noted  how  the  various  classes — the  feudal  lords,  the 
capitalists,  etc. — have  performed  their  parts  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  industrial  order.  We  have  also  seen  the 
proletarians  gathered  together  in  large  factories,  where 
they  are  organized  and  disciplined,  but  thus,  far  they 
have  remained  chiefly  a  passive  factor.  At  first  they 
were  small  in  numbers  compared  with  the  great  middle 

1  By  proletariat  is  meant  those  deprived  of  property  in  the  in- 
struments, of  production.  It  includes  not  only  manual  laborers 
but  the  great  bulk  of  the  professional  body,  as  a  large  majority  of 
such  are  economic  dependents.  The  "educated"  or  "intellec- 
tual "  proletarians  have  rapidly  increased  within  the  last  few  years, 
and  many  of  them  have  become  able  and  courageous  exponents 
of  Socialism.  The  industrial  evolution  is  thus  furnishing  the 
masses  with  the  intellectual  leaders  needed. 


THE  IND  US  TRIAL  E  VOL  UTION.  29 

class,  and  it  was  impossible,  at  that  time,  that  their  mis- 
sion should  be  either  comprehended  or  fulfilled.  It  was 
first  necessary  for  the  economic  evolution  to  work  itself 
out  in  the  expropriation  of  large  numbers  of  the  middle 
class  and  so  increase  the  number  of  the  propertyless, 
before  the  condition  was  propitious  for  the  proletarians 
to  work  out  their  destiny. 

This  condition  has  recently  been  realized.  To  illus- 
trate, in  1897  there  were  1,168,343  firms  doing  business 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  of  which  223,332  either 
failed  or  wound  up  their  affairs  after  reaching  a  condi- 
tion of  practical  bankruptcy.  Of  the  15,008  firms  driven 
into  legal  bankruptcy,  88.9  per  cent,  were  firms  having 
a  capital  of  $5,000  or  less  each,  and  7.6  per  cent,  were 
firms  having  a  capital  of  more  than  $5,000,  but  less  than 
$20,000  each.  Were  it  not  that  many  stand  ready  to 
invest  their  small  savings  or  inherited  property  in  middle 
class  enterprises,  in  less  than  five  years  every  firm  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada  doing  business  on  less  than 
$20,000  capital,  would  pass  into  innocuous  desuetude. 
But  as  the  supply  of  these  aspirants  to  bankruptcy  is  not 
unlimited  they  will  soon  terminate,  and  the  middle  class 
will  be  known  only  by  tradition.  The  middle  class  will 
thus  disappear,  and  while  a  few  may  be  able  to  join  the 
larger  capitalists,  the  great  mass  will  recruit  the 
proletariat. 

Not  only  is  the  wealth  concentrating  in  the  hands  of 
the  capitalist  class,  but  even  in  this  class  there  is  a  ten- 
dency of  the  few  to  become  supreme.  The  capitalist 
class,  which  constitutes  9  per  cent,  of  the  population,  is 
composed  of  1,096,265  families,  representing  an  aggre- 
gate wealth  of  $42,643,162,657,  or,  on  an  average,  $38, 
898  per  family.  Only  a  small  proportion  of  the  families, 
then,  can  be  listed  as  plutocrats.  Upon  this  dependence 
within  the  capitalist  class,  where  a  few  men  are  becoming 


30        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

veritable  kings,  Mr.  Holmes,  of  the  United  States  Cen- 
sus Office,  says:  "Among  the^  1,096,265  families  in 
which  seventy-one  per  cent,  of  the  wealth  of  the  country 
is  concentrated,  there  is  still  further  concentration  which 
may  be  indicated  by  taking  account  of  the  wealth  of  the 
very  rich.  The  New  York  Tribune's  list  of  4,047  mil- 
lionaires affords  the  best  basis  for  this.  .  .  .  The  4,047 
millionaires  are  worth  not  less  than  ten  or  more  than 
fifteen  billions,  say  twelve  billions,  or  about  one-fifth  of 
the  nation's  wealth.  This  gives  an  average  of  about 
$3,000,000." 

Mr.  Thomas  G.  Shearman,  in  speaking  of  the  wealth 
of  seventy  of  our  wealthiest  millionaires,  corroborates 
this  statement  as  to  the  great  concentration  within  the 
capitalist  class.  He  says :  "  Making  the  largest  allow- 
ance for  exaggerated  reports,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
these  seventy  names  represent  an  aggregate  wealth  of 
$2,700,000,000,  or  an  average  of  $38,500,000  each.  No 
information  has  been  sought  concerning  those  worth  less 
than  $20,000,000,  but  the  writer  accidentally  learned  of 
fifty  other  persons  worth  over  $10,000,000,  of  whom 
thirty  are  valued  in  all  at  $450,000,000,  making  together 
one  hundred  persons  worth  over  $3,000,000,000 ;  yet  this 
list  includes  very  few  names  from  New  England,  and 
none  from  the  South.  Evidently  it  would  be  easy  for 
any  well-informed  person  to  make  up  a  list  of  one 
hundred  persons  averaging  $25,000,000  each,  in  ad- 
dition to  ten  averaging  $100,000,000  each." 

Mr.  Lucien  Sanial  has  shown  that  the  plutocratic  class 
representing  but  1.41  per  cent,  of  the  population  hold 
64.37  Per  cent,  (and  with  its  allies,  the  foreign  investors, 
about  67^  per  cent.)  of  the  total  wealth  produced  by 
American  labor.  The  middle  class  representing  37.56 
per  cent,  of  the  population  hold  24.53  Per  cent,  of  the 
wealth.  The  professional  class  representing  6.03  per 


THE  IND t/S  TRIAL  E VOL  UTION.  3 1 

cent,  of  the  population  own  3.83  per  cent,  of  the  wealth, 
while  the  working  class,  representing  55  per  cent,  of  the 
population,  own  but  4.21  per  cent,  of  the  total  wealth. 
The  professional  and  working  classes,  which  together 
constitute  the  proletariat  class,  represent  61  per  cent,  of 
the  total  population  and  own  only  8  per  cent,  of  the 
total  wealth.1  This  is  sufficient  to  show  the  tremendous 
concentration  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few.  It  will  be 
but  a  short  time,  even  at  the  present  rate  of  congestion, 
before  I  per  cent,  of  the  population  will  own  99  per  cent, 
of  all  the  wealth.  Society  will  then  be  composed  of  a  few 
enormously  wealthy  families  on  the  one  side  and  a  vast 
body  of  proletarians  on  the  other. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  society  is  an  organism  and 
Socialism  is  the  last  expression  of  economic  evolution. 
The  time  was  not  ripe  for  Socialism  until  the  capitalist 
system  had  taken  on  its  logical  expression  in  the  trust 
and  syndicate.  Until  this  stage  no  social  or  political  up- 
heaval could  accomplish  more  than  to  upset  thrones  and 
behead  monarchs.  Such  a  revolution  would  accomplish 
nothing.  We  need  to  appreciate  this  truth  when,  as  in 
these  days,  so  many  quack  remedies  are  proposed,  and 
among  them  the  delusion  that  the  cause  of  the  proletariat 
could  be  helped  by  a  grand  physical  revolution  or  out- 
break of  anarchy.  Such  ideas  utterly  fail  to  recognize 
the  evolutionary  character  of  economics.  They  are  gen- 
erally put  forward  by  those  who  have  become  outraged 
by  capitalistic  methods,  but  who  are  still  groping  in  the 
dark  for  the  true  remedy ;  or,  if  they  perceive  the  solu- 
tion, have  so  imbibed  reactionary  doctrines  that  they  fail 
to  see  the  inconsistency  of  their  position.  It  is  not  the 
first  time  that  men  have  unknowingly  held  views  that 
were  mutually  exclusive. 

Now  it  was  but  natural  that  this  economic  condition; 

i  The  Socialist  Almanac  t  1898,  p.  113. 


32       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

as  it  became  more  pronounced,  should  find  political  ex- 
pression. That  the  proletarian  should  discover,  sooner 
or  later,  that  his  interest  did  not  lie  in  the  direction  of 
his  exploiters,  was  inevitable.  And  what  more  natural 
than  that  he  should  organize  politically  to  secure  his 
rights.  The  class-conscious  proletarians  are  to-day  thus 
organized  under  the  banner  of  International  Socialism, 
and  the  struggle  for  supremacy  has  already  begun. 
Socialists  wish  to  attain  political  supremacy  as  a  means 
whereby  they  may  usher  in  the  Co-operative  Common- 
wealth, thus  realizing  their  economic  ideals.  Socialists 
realize  the  futility  of  fighting  capitalism  with  its  own 
weapons, — capital  with  capital.  The  proletarian  is  un- 
equipped in  the  economic  field  for  encounter  with  the 
thoroughly  organized  forces  of  capitalism.  But  in  the 
political  field  the  proletarian  is  supreme.  Here  he  meets 
the  capitalist  as  an  equal,  while  as  a  class  the  proletariat 
overwhelmingly  outnumber  the  capitalists,  and  their  ad- 
vantage is  constantly  increasing  with  the  bankruptcies 
in  the  middle  class  and  the  narrowing  of  the  capitalist 
class.  The  time  has  come  for  the  manual  and  mental 
workers  to  unite  and  strike  for  liberty.  Strike  at  the 
ballot-box,  for  the  mastery  of  the  public  powers  is  the 
first  step  toward  emancipation.  Let  us  rejoice  that  this 
call  for  united  action  has  been  heard  and  is  being  obeyed. 
The  proletarians  of  the  various  trades  are  being  welded 
together  and  leavened  by  the  spirit  of  brotherhood ;  they 
are  forming  a  class-conscious  power  before  whom  the 
thrones  of  the  world  are  beginning  to  tremble ;  they  are 
uniting  for  political  action  to  the  end  that  they  may  con- 
quer the  public  powers  and  convert  the  nations  of  the 
world  into  Co-operative  Commonwealths. 

In  all  previous  social  revolutions  class  has  superseded 
class.  The  class  below  has  overthrown  the  class  above, 
thus  emancipating  itself  by  subjecting  others.  But 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  EVOLUTION.  33 

Socialism  will  abolish  all  classes  by  abolishing  all  forms 
of  human  exploitation.  The  emancipation  of  the  pro- 
letariat will  mean  the  emancipation  of  all. 

Although  Socialism  would  really  benefit  all  classes,  the 
initiative  and  propaganda  must  rest  chiefly  with  the  pro- 
letariat. The  property  holders,  like  the  slaveholders  of 
old,  are  blind  to  their  higher  interests.  To  be  sure, 
there  are  a  few  here  and  there  who  are  able  to  look  be- 
yond the  horizon  of  their  own  class  and  perceive  the 
doom  of  capitalist  production.  Of  course,  we  can  expect 
nothing  from  large  exploiters.  While  it  is  true  that 
ultimately  they  would  reap  an  advantage,  still,  they 
would  lose  the  power  and  distinction  they  enjoy  to-day 
and  would  be  obliged  to  render  some  useful  service  to  so- 
ciety, all  of  which  is  decidedly  distasteful  to  them.  But 
it  is  otherwise  with  the  small  producers  and  traders ;  they 
have  nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain  by  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth.  Under 
the  present  system  they  are  hopelessly  doomed  to  bank- 
ruptcy, and  it  is  only  a  question  of  little  time  before 
they  will  join  the  ever-growing  majority — the  pro- 
letariat. But  their  ignorance  of  economic  conditions, 
which  leads  them  to  hope  for  the  preservation  of  their 
class,  binds  them  to  the  sinking  ship  of  small  enterprise. 
We  can  hope  for  but  little  from  the  members  of  this  class 
so  long  as  they  retain  their  economic  foothold,  but  when 
they  become  expropriated  and  are  thrown  into  the  pro- 
letariat class,  they  furnish  good  material  for  Socialism. 
Their  economic  downfall  is  quite  apt  to  set  them  think- 
ing, and  Socialism  is  being  daily  strengthened  by  such 
recruits. 

Socialists,  then,  count  on  the  expropriated  masses 
against  the  few  expropriators.  When  the  Socialists  have 
gained  control  of  the  political  machinery,  which  presup- 
poses that  the  great  majority  of  the  people  want  the 
change,  then  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth  will  be 


34       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

proclaimed  in  the  name  of  the  people  as  a  new  legal 
system. 

This  would  not  be,  as  assumed  by  some,  a  difficult 
process ;  not  nearly  as  difficult  as  was  the  passing  from 
feudalism  to  capitalism.  Karl  Marx  has  well  stated  this 
in  the  following  words :  "  The  transformation  of  scat- 
tered private  property,  arising  from  individual  labor,  into 
capitalist  private  property  is,  naturally,  a  process,  in- 
comparably more  protracted,  violent  and  difficult  than 
the  transformation  of  capitalistic  private  property,  al- 
ready practically  resting  on  socialized  production,  into 
socialized  property.  In  the  former  case  we  had  the  ex- 
propriation of  the  mass  of  the  people  by  a  few  usurpers ; 
in  the  latter  we  have  the  expropriation  of  a  few  usurpers 
by  the  mass  of  the  people."  1 

When  the  Socialists  have  wrested  the  power  of  gov- 
ernment from  the  capitalist  class  they  will  at  once  pro- 
ceed to  transform  private  businesses  into  socially 
managed  concerns.  Just  as  rapidly  as  practicable,  trust 
after  trust,  and  industry  after  industry,  would  pass  under 
public  administration — the  officials  in  charge  being 
made  responsible  to  the  whole  people — until  all  produc- 
tion and  exchange  are  socialized  and  the  consummation 
of  the  industrial  evolution  completed. 

To  Recapitulate:  The  industrial  evolution  has  taken 
on  several  stages  of  development,  viz. :  the  era  of  small 
production,  the  era  of  manufacturing  production  and  the 
era  of  modern  mechanical  production  This  last  era, 
marked  by  the  introduction  of  the  factory  system,  has 
taken  on  several  phases  of  development.  It  began  with 
the  individual  ownership  of  social  tools,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  joint-stock  or  corporation  ownership,  then 
trust  ownership,  and  finally  this  trust  ownership  will 
evolve  into  public  ownership,  thus  completing  the  in- 
dustrial evolution  and  establishing  the  Co-operative 
Commonwealth. 

1  Capital,  Marx,  p  .  487. 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  VALUE.  35 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   ANALYSIS    OF   VALUE. 

THE  term  value  is  commonly  used  to  express  two 
different  ideas, — value  in  use,  and  value  in  exchange. 
Every  commodity  has  a  use-value;  i.e.,  it  possesses 
utility ;  but  this  property  is  something  entirely  separate 
from  the  amount  of  labor  necessary  for  its  acquisition. 
Use-values  have  been  called  "  the  material  depositories 
of  exchange-value." 

Exchange-value  has  to  do,  primarily,  with  quantita- 
tive relations, — the  proportion  or  ratio  in  which  use- 
values  exchange  with  each  other.  These  use-values, 
which  are  exchangeable,  must  contain  equal  quantities 
of  a  common  substance.  In  the  exchange  of  commodi- 
ties the  very  fact  of  an  equation  shows  that  there  exists 
in  each  commodity  something  common  to  all ;  all  such 
commodities  can  be  reduced  to  a  common  factor.  This 
common  factor  is,  evidently,  not  a  natural  property 
of  products,  but  something  which  natural  products 
have  acquired,  thus  making  them  commodities.  Now, 
what  is  it  that,  applied  to  these  natural  products  gives 
them  value  ?  The  answer  is,  human  labor.  Here,  {hen, 
we  find  the  common  factor  of  all  commodities.  The  re- 
lation in  which  one  commodity  stands  to  another  can 
only  be  ascertained  by  comparison,  and  comparison  can 
only  be  made  between  objects  containing  something  in 
common.  To  be  sure,  all  commodities  are  useful,  but 
utility  forms  no  part  of  comparison.  "  Utility,"  says 
Ricardo,  "  is  not  the  measure  of  exchangeable  value,  al- 


36       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

though  it  is  absolutely  essential  to  it."  I  can  buy  a  hat 
which  is  useful  for  three  dollars,  but  its  usefulness  is  not 
the  reason  I  pay  three  dollars  for  it.  I  can  buy  a  pair 
of  shoes  for  the  same  price,  but  the  shoes  may  be  worth 
to  me  double  the  cost  of  the  hat,  especially  if  I  am  well 
supplied  with  hats  and  have  no  shoes.  Again,  I  can  buy 
a  good  dinner  for  one- sixth  the  cost  of  the  hat  or  shoes 
and,  if  I  have  had  nothing  to  eat  for  several  days,  the 
dinner  would  be  worth  more  to  me  than  both  hat  and 
shoes  combined.  The  reason  why  I  pay  three  dollars 
for  these  commodities  is  not  that  they  are  useful,  but 
because  they  embody  that  amount  of  human  labor;  in 
other  words,  it  would  cost  three  dollars  to  produce  or 
reproduce  them. 

It  is  all-important  that  we  keep  these  two  meanings, 
in  which  value  is  commonly  used,  constantly  in  mind. 
A  careless  use  of  words  has  led  many  of  the  old  econo- 
mists to  fall  into  a  confusion  worse  confounded.  Adam 
Smith  and  Ricardo  marked  out  clearly  the  distinction  be- 
tween value  in  use  and  value  in  exchange,  but  Mill  and 
Jevons  have  hopelessly  confounded  their  meaning,  and  so 
value,  with  many  of  the  lesser  lights,  has  become  merely 
an  expression  of  the  intensity  of  desire.  Value,  however , 
in  the  economic  sense,  although  presupposing  utility,  has 
really  nothing  to  do  with  use-value.  Inasmuch  as  value 
in  use  means  utility,  it  has  been  proposed  by  some 
economists,  in  the  interest  of  clearness,  to  eliminate  the 
term  value  in  use,  substituting  utility  when  referring  to 
qualities,  but  the  term  value  in  use  is  not  misleading  if 
we  remember  that  value  or  exchange  value  is  never  used 
to  express  qualities,  but  only  the  worth  or  exchange  re- 
lation of  qualities. 

This  brings  us  to  one  of  the  fundamental  postulates  of 
Socialism, — that  labor  is  the  source  of  all  value.  Says 
Rodbertus,  whom  Prof.  Wagner  of  Berlin  calls  "  the 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  VALUE.  tf 

Ricardo  of  Socialism,"  "  All  economic  goods  are  to  be 
regarded  as  the  products  of  labor,  and  they  cost  nothing 
but  labor."  This  principle,  however,  is  not  peculiar  to 
Socialism,  it  has  been  laid  down  by  all  the  leading 
economists.  Says  Ricardo,  "  The  value  of  a  commodity 
.  .  .  depends  on  the  relative  quantity  of  labor  which  is 
necessary  for  its  production." 

Says  McCulloch :  "  The  cost  or  value  of  all  freely  pro- 
duced commodities,  the  supply  of  which  may  be  indefi- 
nitely increased  (abstracting  from  temporary  variations 
of  supply  and  demand),  depends  wholly  on  the  quantity 
of  labor  required  for  their  production,  and  not  upon  the 
rate  at  which  that  labor  may  be  paid.  .  .  .  This  is  the 
fundamental  theorem  of  the  science  of  value,  and  the  clew 
which  unravels  the  intricate  labyrinth  of  the  laws  which 
regulate  the  distribution  of  wealth." 

Quotations  to  this  effect  might  be  multiplied.  In  fact, 
no  one  ever  thought  of  questioning  this  principle  until 
the  advocates  of  the  present  order  saw  to  what  use 
Socialists  put  it,  then  Bastiat,  the  champion  of  capital- 
ism, came  to  the  rescue  and  endeavored  to  invalidate  the 
self-evident  proposition.  I  say  self-evident;  for  is  it 
not  ?  Take  any  article  of  merchandise  and  what  is 
there  in  it  but  labor  ?  No  argument  is  necessary  to 
establish  this  truth ;  it  is  axiomatic. 

Capital,  of  course,  is  used  by  labor  in  the  production 
of  value,  and  that  part  which  is  consumed  passes  over 
and  is  embodied  in  the  new  product.  While  labor  uses 
capital  in  production  of  values,  capital  is  not  the  source 
of  value ;  labor  alone  is  the  source  and  creator  of  all 
value.  When  we  say  that  labor  creates  all  value,  it  is 
not  meant  that  land  and  capital  are  not  factors  of  pro- 
duction, but  that  labor  alone  is  the  active  factor,  the 
others  being  passive.  Land  and  capital  are  the  tools 
used  by  labor  in  the  production  of  utilities.  Production 


38        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

consists  in  labor  modifying  the  natural  products  of  na- 
ture, so  as  to  better  fit  them  to  satisfy  human  desire.  In 
this  process  capital  is  always  used  by  labor,  never  labor 
by  capital. 

We  need  also  to  make  a  careful  distinction  between 
capital  aiding  labor  in  production,  and  the  proposition 
often  put  forth  that  capitalists  aid  labor.  While  capital 
renders  labor  great  assistance  and  causes  it  to  be  im- 
mensely more  productive,  the  capitalist  is  in  no  way  of 
service.  But  capital  itself  produces  no  new  value  what- 
ever. Capital, — the  instruments  of  production,  machin- 
ery, etc., — like  the  forces  of  nature,  adds  to  utilities,  and 
so  makes  society  richer.  It  does  not  add  to  values  but 
always  makes  values  fall.  The  machine  parts  with  its 
value  in  the  process  of  production,  and  adds  propor- 
tionately to  the  value  of  the  new  product.  After  making 
allowance  for  the  value  which  it  transmits  by  its  average 
wear  and  tear  and  for  its  consumption  of  auxiliary  sub- 
stances, such  as  oil,  coal,  etc.,  it  does  its  work,  like  the 
forces  of  nature,  gratuitously.  Man  has  thus  at  last 
succeeded,  as  Marx  has  pointed  out,  in  making  the  pro 
duct  of  his  past  labor  work  on  a  large  scale  gratuitously 

Mr.  Gunton,  although  not  a  Socialist,  has  stumbled 
on  to  this  fact  when  he  says :  "  Every  improved  machine 
which  diminishes  the  cost  of  production,  to  that  extent 
approximates  gratuitous  natural  forces.  .  .  .  Capital, 
whose  sole  function  is  to  aid  and  save  labor,  really  sus- 
tains the  same  economic  relation  to  production  that 
natural  forces  do." J 

The  machine,  like  other  commodities,  has  its  ex- 
change-value and  its  use-value.  It  ..imparts,  however, 
only  its  exchange-value  to  new  wealth.  It  serves  as  a 
use-value,  and  so  can  only  transfer  such  value  as  it  ai 

«  Principles  of  Social  Economics,  Gunton,  p.  124. 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  VALUE.  39 

ready  possesses.  It  makes  no  difference  how  useful  a 
machine  may  be,  if  it  costs  but  fifty  days'  labor  it  can  add 
only  that  value  to  the  new  product.  The  machine,  like 
all  constant  capital,  creates  no  new  value.  It  is  evident, 
then,  that  labor  creates  all  value. 

In  the  current  teachings  of  political  economy,  value 
is  a  relation  between  exchangeable  things ;  that  is,  the 
relation  of  value  is  a  relation  of  ratio,  or  proportion,  of 
things  to  things,  instead  of  things  to  man,  or  labor.  This 
mistaken  point  of  view  has  given  rise  to  the  misconcep- 
tion that  there  can  be  no  general  rise  or  fall  of  values. 
Of  course,  all  commodities  cannot  rise  and  fall  simul- 
taneously, in  their  relation  to  each  other,  but  they  can 
and  do  in  their  relation  to  labor.  And  when  we  speak 
of  a  rise  or  fall  of  commodities,  we  mean  an  increase  or 
diminution  in  the  ratio  in  which  they  will  exchange  for 
labor.  To  say  that  the  price  of  a  commodity  had 
risen  or  fallen  because  it  will  exchange  for  more  or 
less  of  gold,  would  have  no  significance  but  for  the 
fact  that  the  change  in  the  ratio  in  which  commodities 
exchange  for  gold,  indirectly  expresses  a  change  in  the 
ratio  in  which  they  will  exchange  for  labor.  The  whole 
difficulty  arises  from  confounding  value  in  labor  and 
value  in  exchange.  Many  of  the  upholders  of  capitalism 
are  coming  to  recognize  as  fallacious  this  doctrine  that 
value  is  merely  a  relation  between  each  exchangeable 
thing  and  all  other  exchangeable  things. 

Mr.  Henry  George,  in  his  last  book,  clearly  points  out 
the  error  of  this  position.  He  says :  "  It  makes  value  de- 
pendent on  value  without  possibility  of  measurement  ex- 
cept arbitrarily  and  relatively,  by  comparing  one  value 
with  another;  that  it  leaves  the  idea  of  value  swimming, 
as  it  were,  in  vacancy,  without  connection  or  fixed  start- 
ing point,  such  as  we  attach  to  all  other  qualities  of  rela- 


40       PRINCIPLES  OF  S^fENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

tion,  and  without  which  any  definte  idea  of  relation  is 
impossible. 

"  Thus,  such  qualities  as  size,  distance,  direction,  color 
consanguinity  and  the  like  are  only  comprehensible  and 
intelligible  to  us  by  reference  to  some  fixed  starting 
point,  to  which  and  not  to  all  other  things  having  the 
same  quality  the  relation  is  made.  .  .  . 

"  Now,  has  not  also  the  idea  of  value  some  fixed  start- 
ing-point, by  which  it  becomes  comprehensible  and  in- 
telligible, as  have  all  other  ideas  of  relation  ? 

"  Clearly  it  has.  What  the  idea  of  value  really  springs 
from,  is  not  the  relation  of  each  thing  having  value  to 
all  things  having  value,  but  the  relation  of  each  thing 
having  value  to  something  which  is  the  source  and 
natural  measure  of  all  value — namely,  human  exer- 
tion." » 

1  The  Science  of  Political  Economy,  George,  pp.  227,  228. 

NOTE  : — In  considering  value,  of  course,  we  are  dealing  with 
such  commodities  as  can  be  increased  in  quantity  by  the  exertion 
of  human  industry.  There  are  other  wares,  such  as  rare  pictures 
and  statues,  wines  of  a  particular  quality  made  from  grapes  grown 
on  a  particular  soil,  etc.,  which  have  what  is  called  a  scarcity  or 
monopoly  value ;  that  is,  their  value  is  not  determined  by  the 
amount  of  labor  congealed  in  them,  but  purely  by  demand  and 
supply.  These  articles  are  comparatively  few  in  number  and  so 
have  no  real  bearing  upon  the  question.  Scarcity  can  create 
nothing  real,  so  the  values  that  are  due  to  it  are  unreal  ones ; 
consequently,  the  exception  if  so  it  maybe  called,  only  proves  the 
law  that  labor  alone  creates  all  real  values. 

We  also  need  to  note  here  the  law  of  supply  and  demand.  We 
have  seen  that  the  labor  required  to  produce  an  article  measures  its 
value  ;  that  is,  its  primary,  natural,  or  level  value.  Now  the  only 
effect  that  demand  and  supply  have,  is  to  make  the  market  price, 
vibrate  now  a  little  above  and  now  a  little  below  the  real  value. 
But  these  vibrations  compensate  each  other,  and,  in  the  analysis 
of  value  it  should  be  eliminated.  This  fact  is  recognized  by  the 
teachers  of  political  economy.  Says  Ricardo,  "  It  is  the  cost  of 
production  which  must  ultimately  regulate  the  price  of  commodi- 
ties, and  not,  as  has  been  often  said,  the  proportion  between  the 
supply  and  demand :  the  proportion  between  supply  and  demand 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  VALUE.  4' 

Value,  then,  expresses  the  relation,  not  of  things  to 
things,  but  of  things  to  labor — the  source  of  all  value. 
As  labor  is  the  source  of  all  valu<?  it  must  form  the 
measure  of  value.  How,  then,  is  the  magnitude  of 
values  to  be  measured  ?  To  this  Marx  replies : 
"  Plainly,  by  the  quantity  of  the  value-creating  sub- 
stance, the  labor,  contained  in  the  article.  The  quantity 
of  labor,  however,  is  measured  by  its  duration,  and  labor- 
time  in  its  turn  finds  its  standard  in  weeks,  days,  and 
hours.  .  .  .  The  labor,  however,  that  forms  the  sub- 
stance of  value,  is  homogeneous  human  labor,  expendi- 
ture of  one  uniform  labor-power.  .  .  .  We  see,  then, 
that  that  which  determines  the  magnitude  of  the  value 
of  any  article  is  the  amount  of  labor  socially  necessary, 
or  the  labor-time  socially  necessary  for  its  production."  1 

may,  indeed,  for  a  time,  affect  the  market  value  of  a  commodity, 
until  it  is  supplied  in  greater  or  less  abundance,  according  as  the 
demand  may  be  increased  or  diminished  ;  but  this  effect  will  be 
only  of  temporary  duration.  .  .  .  The  prices  of  commodities, 
which  are  subject  to  competition,  and  whose  quantity  may  be  in- 
creased in  any  moderate  degree,  will  ultimately  depend,  not  on 
the  state  of  demand  and  supply,  but  on  the  increased  or  dimin- 
ished cost  of  their  production."  Says  Prof.  Ely,  "  Demand  and 
supply  tend  to  equality,  and  this  tendency  operates  through  price. 
Prices  are  lowered  and  raised  in  such  a  manner  that  a  rough  kind 
of  equilibrium  between  supply  and  demand  is  brought  about.  .  . 
We  may  say  price  depends  immediately  on  demand  and  supply, 
and  secondarily,  and  in  the  long  run,  on  cost  of  production,  pro- 
vided we  have  free  competition ;  that  is  to  say,  provided  the  flow 
of  labor  and  capital  is  unobstructed."  Says  Mr.  Gunton,  "  Sup- 
ply and  demand  are  incidental  facts,  never  a  controlling  principle 
in  the  governing  of  prices  of  commodities,  or  of  labor."  This  is 
well  summed  up  by  Marx  as  follows  :  "  You  would  be  altogether 
mistaken  in  fancying  that  the  value  of  labor  or,  any  other  com- 
modity whatever  is  ultimately  fixed  by  supply  and  demand.  Sup- 
ply and  demand  regulate  nothing  but  the  temporary  fhictiiation; 
of  market  prices.  They  will  explain  to  you  why  the  market  price 
of  a  commodity  rises  above  or  sinks  below  its  value,  but  they  can 
1  Capital,  Marx,  pp.  3,  4. 


42        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

We  need  to  keep  constantly  in  mind  that  the  labor 
which  is  implied  is  social  labor — the  labor-time  socially 
necessary.  It  is  not  individual  or  concrete  labor  that 
measures  value,  but  the  social  or  abstract  labor.  A  fail- 
ure to  note  this  distinction  has  led  many  critics  of  Marx 
into  the  gravest  blunders.  They  have  assumed  that 
Marx  was  comparing  concrete  labor-time,  when,  in  fact, 
he  was  comparing  only  abstract  labor-time.  As  stated 
by  Mr.  Sprague :  "  Labor  of  all  kinds  and  degrees  must 
be  reduced  to  abstract  labor-time  before  comparison  can 
be  made  or  values  measured.  The  reduction  of  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  concrete  labor,  skilled  and  unskilled, 
mental  and  manual,  to  abstract  labor-time,  and  the  re- 

never  account  for  that  value  itself.  .  .  At  the  moment  when  sup- 
ply and  demand  equilibrate  each  other,  and  therefore  cease  to 
act,  the  market  price  of  a  commodity  coincides  with  its  real 
value,  with  the  standard  price  round  which  its  market  price 
oscillates.  In  inquiring  into  the  nature  of  that  value,  we 
have  therefore  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the  temporary  ef- 
fects on  market  prices  of  supply  and  demand.  The  same 
holds  true  of  wages  and  of  the  prices  of  all  other  commodities." 
Value,  Price,  and  Profits,  p.  36.  There  are  many  things 
whic!)  affect  demand  and  supply,  or  rather  which  affect 
prices  in  their  action  through  the  law  of  demand  and  supply, 
such  as  the  laws  and  customs  of  society,  religion,  fashions 
inheritance  and  bequest,  etc.  But  all  these  are  incidental  causes 
and  are  included,  or  go  to  constitute,  the  law  of  demand  and  sup- 
ply. They  are  the  forces  which  influence  demand  and  supply- - 
the  forces  at  work  back  of  demand  and  supply  which  constitutes 
them  what  they  are.  The  doctrine  that  prices  depend  solely  on 
the  proportion  of  demand  to  supply  or  supply  to  demand,  has 
been  the  source  of  much  error  in  political  economy.  This  fallacy 
is  due  to  a  failure  to  distinguish  between  monopolized  commodi- 
ties and  those  which  can  be  indefinitely  multiplied.  It  is  only 
the  former  whose  values  are  thus  regulated, — whose  values  are 
determined  merely  by  demand  and  supply.  But  such  commodi- 
ties are  exceptions,  and  exceptional  cases  must  not  be  thought  to 
determine  the  law  of  value.  In  the  analysis  of  value,  then,  mo- 
nopolized wares,  and  the  factors  of  demand  and  supply  should  be 
eliminated. 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  VALUE.  43 

solving  a  commodity  into  this  simple,  single  element,  are 
going  on  all  the  while.  Value  in  exchange  is  the  result 
of  these  processes  of  reduction,  and,  indeed,  could  have 
no  existence  without  them."  l 

Thus  by  this  process  of  reduction  the  labor  of  the 
artist  and  that  of  the  hod-carrier  is  expressed  in  units 
of  abstract  labor-time.  One  hour's  work  of  the  artist, 
say,  represents  five  units,  and  that  of  the  hod-carrier  one. 
Thus  all  concrete  labor  can  be  reduced  to  units  of  ab- 
tract  labor.  While  the  various  kinds  of  concrete  labor 
have  different  values,  the  units  of  abstract  labor  have 
equal  values.  All  kinds  of  labor,  then,  must  be  reduced 
and  expressed  in  terms  of  the  same  unit,  or  quantitative 
comparison  is  impossible.  "Skilled  labor,"  as  Marx  says, 
"  counts  only  as  simple  labor  intensified,  or,  rather,  as 
multiplied  simple  labor,  a  given  quantity  of  skilled  being 
considered  equal  to  a  greater  quantity  of  simple  labor." 
(Capital,  p.  7.)  The  same  is  true  of  professional  labor. 
Quality  is  thus  considered,  it  being  reduced  to  quantity. 
Thus  a  watch  may  represent,  say,  ten  days  of  concrete 
skilled  labor,  which  is  equal  to  thirty  days  of  abstract 
labor.  The  common  laborer,  then,  provided  he  was  of  the 
average  efficiency,  would  have  to  give  thirty  days'  labor 
for  that  which  cost  the  watch-maker  but  ten  days'  labor. 
The  watch-maker,  having  spent  years  to  acquire  his 
skill,  is  simply  remunerated  for  this  unremunerated 
period.2 

1  Socialism  from  Genesis  to  Pevelations,  Sprague,  p.  61. 

a  Now  note  that  the  reason  for  different  degrees  of  remunera- 
tion is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  grades  above  common  labor  need 
to  be  compensated  for  the  years  of  apprenticeship  and  study  given 
to  qualification.  But  it  is  certain  that  after  Socialism  had  been 
in  operation  a  few  years  and  artisans  and  professional  nr.en  were 
supported  by  soriety  during  their  years  of  qualification,  then 
another  rule  would  be  applicable.  The  ratio  of  differentiation 
would  gradually  diminish  until  all  labor  would  receive  equal  re- 


44       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

The  manner  in  which  this  adjustment  is  made  in  pres- 
ent society  is  expressed  by  Adam  Smith  as  the  "  hig- 
gling and  bargaining  of  the  market,  according  to  that 
sort  of  rough  equality  which,  though  not  exact,  is  yet 
sufficient  for  carrying  on  the  business  of  common  life." 
Says  Ricardo,  "  I  must  not  be  supposed  to  be  inatten- 
tive to  the  different  qualities  of  labor,  and  the  difficulty 
of  comparing  an  hour's  or  a  day's  labor,  in  one  employ- 
ment, with  the  same  duration  of  labor  in  another.  The 
estimation  in  which  different  qualities  of  labor  are  held, 
comes  soon  to  be  adjusted  in  the  market  with  sufficient 
precision  for  all  practical  purposes." 

This  is  the  scientific  law  of  the  measure  of  value,  and 
as  seen  by  careful  analysis,  is  really  the  method  em- 
ployed to-day. 

Value,  remember,  has  to  do  with  labor  in  the  abstract 
— the  expenditure  of  labor  in  general.  If  the  concrete 
or  individual  labor  were  to  measure  value,  we  should 
have  as  many  values  for  the  same  article  as  we  have 
workmen.  There  are  many  degrees  of  efficiency  among 
workmen,  and  so  the  values,  if  determined  by  individual 
labor,  would  greatly  vary.  It  takes  some  laborers  twice 
as  long  to  do  a  given  piece  of  work  as  it  does  others. 
Should  the  man  who  is  dilatory  wish  the  same  pay  for 
his  time  as  the  man  who  is  more  efficient  he  would 
likely  be  told  .that  it  made  no  difference  how  long  it  took 
him  to  produce  a  given  commodity,  inasmuch  as  the 
average  workman  could  produce  it  in  half  the  time, 
therefore  the  value  of  his  labor  would  have  to  be  deter- 
mined by  that  of  the  average  working-man.  It  is  the 

numeration  for  equal  labor  performed.  Economic  equality  is  the 
ideal.  It  will  ultimately  be  attained.  On  the  question  of  grada- 
tion and  remuneration  of  labor  see  the  author's  Modern  Social- 
ism, Ch.  V. 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  VALUE.  4$ 

average  labor,  then,  that  measures  value;  and  this  not 
of  all  labor,  but  the  average  of  common  labor. 

Here,  note,  that  the  terms  simple,  common,  and  un- 
skilled labor  are  used  synonymously ;  the  same  with 
abstract,  social,  and  undifferentiated  labor.  The  latter, 
however,  is  but  the  average  of  the  former ;  that  is,  social 
or  abstract  labor  is  the  average  of  common  labor — the 
average  amount  of  common  labor  required  in  the  pro- 
duction of  any  commodity. 

In  the  final  analysis,  then,  labor  measures  all  value, 
even  the  value  of  gold  and  silver;  hence,  the  appro- 
priateness of  fixing  a  definite  quantity  of  labor  as  a  unit 
of  value.  This  is  what  Socialism  proposes  to  do.  Under 
the  new  regime  the  unit  of  value  would  be  a  social  labor 
day — a  day  of  social  labor-time.  While  there  are  in- 
dividual differences  in  the  labor  of  each  workman,  these 
differences,  where  a  certain  number  of  laborers  are  em- 
ployed, compensate  one  another.  Thus,  if  ten  men  were 
employed  for  ten  hours  the  collective  working  day  would 
be  one  hundred  hours,  and  although  the  individual  labor 
of  each  might  vary,  nevertheless,  since  the  working  day 
of  each  is  one-tenth  that  of  the  collective  working  day, 
it  possesses  the  qualities  of  an  average  social  working 
day. 

To  obtain  the  value,  then,  of  a  social  labor  day,  we 
divide  the  total  product  by  the  number  of  days  worked. 
Thus,  if  one  thousand  tons  of  coal  are  mined  with  one 
hundred  days'  labor — one  man  working  one  hundred 
days  or  one  hundred  men  working  one  day — the  value 
of  one  day's  social  labor  would  be  ten  tons.  This  ex- 
ample relates  to  what  is  called  extractive  industries,  in 
which  the  materials  for  labor  are  furnished  directly  by 
nature.  But  in  most  industries  raw  materials — objects 
already  embodying  labor — are  used.  These  raw  mater- 
ials may  form  the  principal  substance  of  a  product,  or 


46        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

may  be  merely  an  accessory,  and  so  consumed  by  the  in- 
struments of  labor  as  coal  in  the  boiler.  But  whenever 
in  the  productive  process  raw  materials  and  machinery 
are  used,  the  days'  labor  embodied  in  these  factors  must 
be  added  to  the  living  labor  in  determining  the  value  of 
the  social  labor  day.  Thus,  if  in  the  production  of  two 
hundred  hats  there  are  ten  days'  labor  embodied  in  the 
raw  materials,  five  days  in  the  wear  and  tear  of  machin- 
ery, and  ten  days  new  labor,  making  in  all  twenty-five 
working  days,  then  the  number  of  days  divided  by  the 
quantity  of  hats  produced  would  give  the  value  of  one 
day's  social  labor,  which  is  eight  hats,  and,  if  eight  hours 
constitute  a  day's  work,  the  value  of  each  hour  is  one 
hat,  one  hat  being  worth  one  hour's  social  labor.  Now, 
if  the  introduction  of  improved  methods  made  it  possible 
to  produce  in  ten  days'  social  labor,  four  hundred  hats 
instead  of  two  hundred,  then  the  ten  days'  social  labor 
would  consume  twice  the  quantity  of  materials,  and  the 
wear  and  tear  of  the  machinery  would  be  doubled,  con- 
sequently, the  four  hundred  hats  would  embody  forty 
days'  social  labor,  and  the  value  of  each  day's  social 
labor  would  be  ten  hats.  Now  if  the  productivity  of  the 
laborers  who  produce  the  other  factors  of  the  process  is 
also  doubled,  so  that  the  improved  methods  reduce  by 
half  the  cost  of  the  raw  materials  and  the  instruments  of 
production  used,  it  is  evident  that  the  quantity  of  the 
product  would  be  doubled  while  the  labor  consumed'  in 
the  production  would  remain  unaltered.  The  number  of 
working  days  (25)  divided  by  the  product  (400  hats) 
would  give  sixteen  hats  instead  of  eight,  as  the  value  of 
a  social  labor  day.  Here  let  it  be  noted  that  it  makes 
no  difference  how  the  ten  working  days  are  divided, 
whether  one  man  works  ten  days,  two  men  five  days,  or 
ten  men  one  day. 

Now  this   one   day's  sotial  labor  embodied  in  hats 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  VALUE.  47 

would  exchange  for  a  day's  social  labor  embodied  in  any 
other  commodity.  If  ten  men  produce  twenty  pairs  of 
shoes  per  day,  and  this  includes  labor  spent  in  raw 
materials,  etc.,  then  two  pairs  would  represent  one  day's 
social  labor,  and  would  exchange  for  eight  or  sixteen 
hats  according  to  the  condition  of  producing  that  com- 
modity. If  by  the  introduction  of  new  machinery  forty 
pairs  of  shoes  were  produced  in  one  day,  then  four  pairs 
would  constitute  a  day's  social  labor,  and  would  ex- 
change for  an  equal  amount  of  labor  embodied  in  hats  or 
other  products. 

If  one  studies  the  methods  of  production  to-day  he 
will  find  that  the  introduction  of  improved  machinery  by 
which,  say,  forty  pairs  of  shoes  are  produced  in  the  time 
it  formerly  required  to  produce  twenty,  would  mean 
that  the  social  labor  of  manufacturing  shoes  had  fallen 
one-half.  Some  manufacturers  for  a  time  might  con- 
tinue to  use  the  old  methods,  but  for  all  that,  the  product 
of  one  hour  of  such  labor  would  represent  but  one-half 
hour's  social  labor,  and  would  soon  fall  to  that  level. 
The  handicraftsman  requires  about  as  much  time  now  as 
formerly  to  produce  a  pair  of  shoes,  but  the  introduc- 
tion of  modern  machinery  has  reduced  by  more  than  one- 
half  the  labor  required  for  their  production.  Although 
he  requires  the  same  time  as  before,  the  product  of  his 
day's  labor  represents  but  about  one-half  a  day's  social 
labor,  and  its  value  has  been  reduced  in  proportion. 

Not  only  is  the  value  of  individual  labor  affected  by 
improved  machinery,  but  also  the  value  of  commodities 
already  produced.  Thus,  if  a  commodity  can  be  pro- 
duced in  ten  hours,  and  an  invention  is  introduced  by 
which  it  can  be  made  in  five  hours,  the  value,  even  of 
the  commodity  already  produced,  falls  by  one-half;  it 
represents  now  but  five  hours  of  social  labor  instead  of 
ten.  "  It  is  the  quantity  of  labor  required  for  its  pro- 


48       PXI.\>  VPLES  Or  SCIENTIFIC 

fraction,"  says  Marx,  "  not  the  realizes  form  of  In&t 
labor,  by  which  the  amount  of  the  v?,lne  of  a  Commodity 
i?  determined,"  (C'<//vVa/,  p.  ^36.)  ^he  introduction  of 
a  machine,  then  that  would  ni&ir.<s  two  articles  in  trie 
time  it  formerly  required  to  prorhve  one,  would  rcdnc: 
the  cost  of  the  articles  already  in  existence  by  one-half 
The  commodities  already  produced  would  represent  but 
one-half  the  social  labor  as  heretofore.  Remember  it  is 
the  social  labor — the  labor-time  socially  necessary— 
which  measures  value.  "  The  labor-time  socially  neces- 
sary is  that  required  to  produce  an  article  under  the  nor- 
mal conditions  of  production,  and  with  the  average  de- 
gree of  skill  and  intensity  prevalent  at  the  time." 
(Capital,  p,  4.)  The  socially  necessary  labor  is  the  aver- 
age labor  necessary  to  produce  a  commodity  with  the 
use  of 'the  implements  generally  used. 

Were  the  labor-time  required  for  the  production  of  a 
commodity  to  remain  constant,  the  value  of  the  com- 
modity would  remain  constant.  The  productiveness  of 
labor,  however,  owing  to  various  circumstances,  does 
not  remain  the  same.  If  to-day  two  pairs  of  shoes  are 
equal  to  one  coat,  next  year,  perhaps,  owing  to  improved 
machinery,  four  pairs  can  be  produced  in  the  time  for- 
merly expended  upon  two,  and  consequently,  four  pairs 
of  shoes  will  exchange  for  one  coat.  Vice  versa,  the 
shoes  may  remain  constant  and  the  cost  of  the  produc 
tion  of  the  coat  vary ;  or  both  may  vary,  either  in  the 
contrary  or  in  the  same  direction.  However  this  may 
be,  the  value  of  each  is  determined  by  the  amount  of 
labor-time  embodied.  But  we  need  to  keep  clearly  in 
mind  that  in  the  production  of  a  commodity  only  that 
time  is  counted,  which,  under  given  social  conditions,  is 
necessary.  This  implies  that  the  condition  of  labor  must 
be  normal,  and  the  material  of  production  of  suitable 
quality,  otherwise  labor  would  spend  more  time  in  the 


THE  ANAL  YSIS  OF  VAL  UE.  49 

process  than  was  socially  necessary,  and  this  excessive 
time  would  be  pure  waste,  creating  no  value  whatever. 
Not  only  must  these  factors  be  of  normal  quality,  but 
the  labor-power  itself  must  be  of  average  efficiency. 

When  we  pass  beyond  the  elementary  form  of  value — 
that  form  in  which  but  one  article  is  compared  with 
another — we  see  more  clearly  the  fact  that  value  is  a 
congelation  of  undifferentiated  human  labor.  Thus,  if 
one  coat  equals  two  pairs  of  shoes,  or  twenty  pounds  of 
coffee,  or  seven  sacks  of  flour,  or  five  bushels  of  pota- 
toes, it  is  evident  these  commodities  are  all  mirrors  of 
the  coat's  value.  The  labor  embodied  in  these  commo- 
dities are  seen  to  be  equal  regardless  of  their  form,  or 
manner  of  production,  whether  tailoring,  farming,  etc. 
It  also  evidences  that,  as  regards  the  value,  it  does  not 
matter  under  what  form  its  use-value  appears,  as  all 
kinds  of  concrete  labor  embodied  in  these  commodities 
rank  now  as  so  many  different  forms  in  which  undiffer- 
entiated labor  is  manifested.1 

Let  us  note  in  passing  that  there  may  be  use-value 
without  exchange-value,  as  where  things  are  not  the  pro- 
duct of  human  labor,  such  as  light,  air,  etc. ;  also  an 
article  may  contain  labor  and  still  have  no  value,  the 
labor  being  useless.  Labor  can  only  have  value  when 
embodied  in  useful  articles.  Every  article  of  value  must 
have  utility — must  have  a  use-value. 

Value,  then,  means  labor-worth.  It  is  "  value  in 
labor  "  or  "  value  in  exertion,"  and  is  determined  by  the 
quantity  of  abstract  human  labor.  It  is  measured  by 
the  average  labor-time  requisite  to  produce  a  commodity 
under  average  conditions  and  with  average  efficiency 
on  the  part  of  labor.  The  value  of  any  commodity,  then, 
is  determined  by  the  quantity  of  abstract  human  labor 

,  See  Capital,  Marx,  Ch.  I. 


50       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

embodied  in  k,  or  required  for  its  production  or  repro- 
duction. 

Use-value  hasf  to  do  only  with  the  utility  of  commodi- 
ties. It  is  intrinsic  in,  and  inseparable  from,  all  com- 
modities. It  is  a  quality  attaching  to  the  article  itself — 
a  capacity  to  satisfy  human  needs. 

Exchange-value  is  the  ratio  in  which  use-values  ex- 
change. It  is  the  only  form  in  which  the  value  of  com- 
modities can  manifest  themselves.  While  every  com- 
modity contains  use-value  and  value,  it  can  only  express 
the  latter  when  it  is  brought  into  relation  with  some 
other  commodity — labor,  or  the  products  of  labor.  Ex- 
change-value, then,  has  to  do  with  exchangeability  or 
purchasing-power.  It  is  the  "  form  of  expression  of  the 
value,  as  distinct  from  the  use-value,  of  a  commodity." 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  that  it  is  not  the 
exchange  of  commodities  that  determines  value,  but, 
rather,  value  which  determines  the  proportion  in  which 
commodities  exchange.  A  thing  is  not  valuable  be- 
cause it  is  exchangeable,  but,  rather,  exchangeable  be- 
cause it  is  valuable.  Value  is  in  itself  a  relation  to  labor, 
and  because  of  this  relation,  labor  is  the  final  measure 
of  value.  "  But,"  says  Adam  Smith,  "  though  labor  be 
the  real  measure  of  the  exchangeable  value  of  all  com- 
modities, it  is  not  that  by  which  their  value  is  commonly 
estimated.  .  .  .  Every  commodity,  is  more  frequently 
exchanged  for,  and  thereby  compared  with,  other  com- 
modities than  with  labor."  l 

Thus  while  labor  is  always  the  real  measure  of  value 
to  which  all  common  measures  of  value  must  refer,  yet 
for  the  sake  of  convenience,  people  have  adopted  some 
result  of  labor  as  a  measure  of  value.  But  it  is  only  be- 
cause commodities  are  results  of  labor  that  they  can  be 

«  Tke  Wealth  of  Nations,  Smith,  Book  I.,  Ch.  V. 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  VALUE.  5 1 

chosen  as  common  measures  of  value.  The  tendency, 
from  the  beginning  of  society,  has  been  to  take  tangible 
results  of  exertion  as  the  measure  of  exertion.  There  is 
scarcely  a  commodity  which  has  not  at  some  time  served 
in  this  capacity.  The  commodity  most  easily  exchange- 
able became  the  common  medium  of  exchange,  and  so 
the  common  measure  of  value. 

The  manner  in  which  our  present  money  standard 
arose  is  interesting  in  the  extreme.  In  the  early  stages 
of  exchange  the  form  .of  value  was  accidental  or  ele- 
mentary. Here  the  value  of  one  commodity  became 
expressed  in  the  value  of  some  other  commodity,  as 
A  =  B,  A  =  C,  A  =  D,  etc.,  there  being  as  many  ele- 
mentary expressions  as  there  were  commodities  separate 
from  the  first.  Now  these  isolated  expressions  may  be 
converted  into  a  series,  as  A  =  B,  or  C,  or  D,  etc.  This 
is  called  the  expanded  form  of  value — the  sum  of  the 
elementary  relative  expressions.  Now  if  we  translate 
our  signs  A,  "B,  C,  D,  into  commodities  we  get,  say  I 
bushel  of  wheat  =  3  pounds  of  tea,  or  4  pounds  of  but- 
ter, or  25.8  grains  of  gold.  By  reversing  the  series  we 
get  what  is  called  the  general  form  of  value ;  thus,  25.8 
grains  of  gold,  or  3  pounds  of  tea,  or  4  pounds  of  butter 
=  i  bushel  of  wheat.  The  wheat  here  becomes  a  uni- 
versal equivalent  into  which  all  other  commodities  find 
expression.  The  universal  equivalent,  however,  can  be 
assumed  by  any  commodity.  The  commodity  thus  act- 
ing becomes  the  money  commodity.  Nearly  all  commo- 
dities have  at  various  times  assumed  that  function,  but 
the  one  which  has  attained  the  foremost  place  to-day  is 
gold.  If,  then,  we  replace  the  wheat  by  gold  in  our  equa- 
tion, we  get  i  bushel  of  wheat,  or  4  pounds  of  butter, 
or  3  pounds  of  tea  —  25.8  grains  of  gold.  This  25.8 
grains  of  gold,  under  our  present  system,  is  the  unit  of 
value,  and  is  called  one  dollar,  'i  ne  unit  here  is  the  uni- 


52        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM, 

versal  equivalent  in  which  the  value  of  all  commodities 
finds  expression. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  expression  of  value  that  there 
be  a  relative  and  equivalent  form.  You  cannot  express 
the  value  of  wheat  in  wheat.  To  say  that  a  bushel  of 
wheat  is  equal  to  a  bushel  of  wheat  is  no  expression  of 
value.  The  value  of  wheat  can  only  be  expressed  re- 
latively to  labor  or  to  a  product  of  labor.  Thus  when 
we  say  one  bushel  of  wheat  is  equal  to  two  bushels  of 
potatoes,  the  wheat  here  is  the  relative  form  and  the 
potatoes  the  equivalent.  Gold  has  now  become  the  uni- 
versal equivalent,  but  1'ke  any  other  equivalent  it  cannot 
determine  its  own  value.  To  say  that  25.8  grains  of  gold 
is  worth  25.8  grains  of  gold  is  not  to  express  its  value. 
Every  commodity  must  choose  some  other  commodity 
for  its  equivalent,  for  no  commodity  can  stand  in  the  re- 
lation of  equivalent  to  itself. 

Although  all  commodities  possess  value  in  themselves, 
being  embodiments  of  human  labor,  they  can  only  ex- 
press that  value  when  they  are  brought  into  relation  with 
other  commodities,  or  with  labor  itself.  To  bring  one 
commodity  into  relation  with  another  commodity  is 
simply  to  compare  the  labor-worth  of  one  commodity 
with  that  of  the  other;  that  is,  to  compare  the  relative 
value  of  each  to  labor,  the  source  and  measure  of  ail 
value. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  SURPLUS-  VALUE.  53 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   ORIGIN    OF   SURPLUS-VALUE. 

THE  problem  now  presented  to  us  is  the  discovery  of 
the  source  of  surplus-value.  The  old  school  of  political 
economy  holds  that  surplus-value  arises  from  the  cir- 
culation of  commodities.  This  error  is  due  to  a  con- 
fusion of  use-value  and  exchange-value. 

In  an  exchange  of  equivalents  both  parties  may  gain 
in  use-value,  but  not  so  in  exchange-value.  If  I  make 
slippers  and  you  make  hats  there  may  be  a  mutual  ad- 
vantage in  our  exchange.  We  both  part  with  goods  we 
do  not  want  and  receive  in  exchange  others  which  are 
serviceable  to  us.  In  regard  to  use-values,  in  this  trans- 
action, the  exchange  is  beneficial  to  both  parties,  but  in 
regard  to  exchange-value,  there  has  been  no  advantage 
to  either.  If  I  have  fifty  dollars  worth  of  slippers  and  ex- 
change them  for  fifty  dollars  worth  of  hats,  the  act  pro- 
duces no  increase  of  value.  The  same  amount  of  social 
labor  is  embodied  in  both  slippers  and  hats,  and  the  in- 
troduction of  money  into  the  process  in  no  way  alters  the 
result.  The  same  value  for  me  exists  throughout  the 
whole  process,  first  in  the  form  of  slippers,  then  in  the 
form  of  money,  and  finally  in  the  shape  of  hats.  The  form 
of  value  alone  has  changed ;  the  value  remains  constant 

"  It  is  true,  commodities  may  be  sold  at  prices  deviat- 
ing from  their  values  ;  but  these  deviations  are  to  be  con- 
sidered as  infractions  of  the  laws  of  the  exchange  of 
commodities,  which  in  its  normal  state  is  an  exchange  of 


54        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

equivalents,  consequently  no  method  for  increasing 
value. 

"  Hence,  we  see  that  behind  all  attempts  to  represent 
the  circulation  of  commodities  as  a  source  of  surplus- 
value,  there  lurks  a  quid  pro  quo — a  mixing  up  of  use- 
value  and  exchange-value."  (Capital,  pp.  84,  85.) 

We  see,  therefore,  that  while  both  buyer  and  seller 
may  gain  in  use-values,  they  do  not  gain'  in  exchange- 
value  in  its  normal  form,  for  here  the  demand  is  for  the 
exchange  of  equivalents.  But  economic  equivalents,  re- 
member, are  not  necessarily  equivalents  of  utility.  The 
utility  depends  upon  the  different  tastes,  temperaments, 
intensity  of  desire,  etc.,  of  different  persons.  The 
economic  equality  of  commodities  does  'not  depend  upon 
Xhe  equality  of  the  utility,  but  upon  the  equality  in  the 
amount  of  productive  energy  expended  in  producing 
them.  It  is  self-evident,  then,  that  in  the  exchange  of 
economic  equivalents  no  surplus-value  is  created.  The 
ethics  of  economics  demand  that  all  exchange  be  the 
exchange  of  economic  equivalents.  Under  normal  con- 
ditions all  exchanges  would  conform  to  this  law. 

But  as  the  normal  form  is  not  always  maintained  in 
actual  practice, — the  effort  of  each  being  to  get  the  better 
of  his  fellows, — let  us  raise  the  question,  Is  surplus-value 
created  by  the  exchange  of  non-equivalents  ?  It  is  com- 
monly supposed  that  here  lies  the  secret  of  surplus-value 
— the  production  of  commodities  and  sale  of  them  at  an 
advanced  price.  Suppose,  for  example,  I  buy  a  com- 
modity for  ten  dollars  and  sell  it  again  for  twelve  dol- 
lars, thus  making  two  dollars  on  the  transaction ;  but 
after  selling  I  must  become  a  buyer  and  am  obliged  to 
submit  to  the  privilege  of  the  owners  of  commodities, 
which  I  myself  have  enjoyed,  of  selling  at  ten  per  cent, 
advance.  That  which  I  had  gained  as  seller,  I  now  lose 
as  buyer.  Now  if  all  sell  their  commodities  to  one  an- 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  S  URPL  US-  VAL  UE.  5  5 

other  at  ten  per  cent,  above  their  value,  the  result  is  the 
same  as  though  they  sold  them  at  their  true  value.  The 
result  is  also  the  same  if  the  process  is  inverted  and  the 
buyer  purchases  at  ten  per  cent,  under  value,  for  here 
the  buyer  was  previously  seller,  and,  as  such,  had  lost 
that  which  he  now  gains.  In  the  realm  of  circulation 
producers  are  consumers  and  consumers  are  producers. 
It  is  only  as  buyers  have  been  sellers  that  they  obtain 
the  wherewithal  to  make  new  purchases.  To  assume 
that  surplus-value  arises  from  excessive  prices  paid  by 
consumers  is  to  overlook  the  fact  that  the  consumer  is,  or 
represents,  a  producer,  and  vice-versa.  It  is  evident, 
then,  that  surplus-value,  or  profits,  not  in  individual 
cases  but  the  constant  and  usual  profits  of  different 
trades,  does  not  rise  from  selling  goods  in  excess  of 
their  value. 

Neither  is  the  matter  helped  by  assuming  the  other 
horn  of  the  dilemma, — that  of  a  distinct  non-producing 
class.  For  even  here,  the  selling  of  commodities  in  ex- 
cess of  their  value,  is  but  getting  back  from  the  non-pro- 
ducers a  part  of  the  money  previously  given  them. 

One  last  desperate  effort  is  made  in  support  of  the 
hypothesis  by  pointing  out  that  one  man  may  get  the 
better  of  another  in  a  bargain,  without  the  latter  being 
able  to  retaliate.  Suppose,  it  is  said,  you  sell  ten  dollars 
worth  of  slippers,  and  get  in  exchange  for  them  twelve 
dollars  worth  of  hats.  Have  you  not  made  in  the  trans- 
action ?  Yes,  but  my  gain  would  be  some  one's  loss. 
The  total  values,  however,  would  not  be  effected  by  the 
exchange.  The  only  difference  would  be  in  the  distribu- 
tion. I  have  now  the  twelve  dollars  worth  of  hats  and 
my  friend  the  ten  dollars  worth  of  slippers.  The  total 
values — twenty-two  dollars — is  the  same  as  before.  The 
s-um  of  the  values  is  not  altered  by  the  change  in  distri- 
bution, and  consequently,  no  surplus-value  is  created. 


$6        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

Neither  does  the  usurer,  who  exchanges  money  di- 
rectly for  more  money,  create  surplus-value, — he  only 
draws  value  already  existing  into  his  own  purse.  No  al- 
teration, then,  in  the  distribution  of  values  can  create 
value.  Men  may  swindle  each  other  as  much  as  they  de- 
sire, and  so  secure  value  at  the  detriment  of  others,  but 
no  new  value  is  created  by  the  process.  Our  conclusion, 
then,  is,  that  surplus-value  is  not  created  by  the  ex- 
change of  commodities,  either  of  equivalents  or  non- 
equivalents.  (See  Capital,  Ch.  V.) 

How,  then,  is  surplus-value  created  ?  In  order  that 
we  may  answer  this  question,  it  will  be  necessary  for  us 
to  examine  the  modern  method  of  production 

The  value  of  any  commodity  is  determined,  as  we  have 
seen,  by  the  amount  of  social  labor  embodied  in  it.  and 
this  includes  not  only  the  living  labor,  but  also  the  labor 
embodied  in  the  raw  materials,  and  that  represented  by 
the  wear  and  tear  of  the  instruments  used.  The  values 
of  the  means  of  production — the  raw  materials  and  the 
wear  and  tear  of  machinery — are  as  much  constituent 
parts  of  the  value  of  the  finished  product  as  the  living 
labor  itself.  But  here  note,  that  the  values  of  these  fac- 
tors are  no  greater  after  they  are  joined  together  than 
they  were  before.  This  is  true  whether  the  laborer  is 
his  own  employer  or  whether  the  labor-process  is  carried 
on  for  a  capitalist.  Out  of  the  addition  of  existing 
values  no  surplus-value  can  arise.  If  five  days  of  social- 
labor  are  embodied  in  the  raw  materials,  and,  say,  one- 
fourth  of  a  machine,  which  it  cost  twenty  days'  labor  to 
produce,  is  used  up  in  the  productive  process,  and  the 
labor-power  consumed  is  ten  days,  it  is  evident  that  the 
finished  product  will  only  be  equal  to  twenty  days  of 
social-labor.  These  values,  which  were  before"  separate. 
are  now  concentrated  in  one  product.  The  process  adds 
no  expanded  value.  It  makes  no  difference  how  useful 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  SURPLUS-VALUE.  $7 

the  raw  material  or  machine  may  be,  they  serve  only  as 
use-values. — as  things  of  useful  properties, — and  so  can 
transfer  only  such  value  as  they  possessed  previous  to 
entering  the  labor-process. 

The  means  of  production,  then,  only  transfer  to  the 
product  such  value  as  they  lose  during  the  process  of 
production.  Thus,  if  a  machine  lasts  but  six  days,  then, 
on  an  average,  it  loses  one-sixth  of  its  value  each  day, 
and  so  transfers  this  value  to  the  daily  product.  If  an 
instrument  is  used  up  in  five  years,  then  during  this  time 
its  use-value  has  been  consumed,  and,  therefore,  its  ex- 
change-value has  all  been  transferred  to  the  product  of 
five  years.  Experience  teaches  how  long  a  machine  lasts 
and  furnishes  the  basis  of  calculation.  And  here  it  is 
worthy  of  note,  that  while  such  an  instrument  of  produc- 
tion enters  into  the  labor-process  as  a  whole,  its  value  is 
only  transferred  little  by  little.  In  the  case  of  raw 
materials  it  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  while  their  value 
is  always  preserved,  in  some  cases  a  portion  of  the  raw 
material,  instead  of  all  being  transformed  into  a  finished 
product,  is  wasted  in  the  process.  For  instance,  in  spin- 
ning cotton,  for  every  thirty-five  pounds  used,  say,  five 
pounds  are  converted  not  into  yarn  but  into  dust.  This 
waste,  however,  being  inevitable,  its  value  is  just  as 
surely  transferred  to  the  yarn  as  the  other  thirty  pounds. 
Without  this  waste  yarn  could  not  be  produced.  This 
transformation,  then,  of  the  raw  materials  and  the  instru- 
ments of  labor,  produces  no  additional  value.  The  sum 
of  the  values  of  the  factors  is  the  value  of  the  finished 
product.  No  surplus-value  can  be  created  by  the  mere 
adding  of  existing  values.  It  must  be  evident,  then,  that 
the  capitalist  can  realize  no  surplus-value  if  he  pays  in 
full  for  the  factors  of  the  labor-process ;  that  is,  the  raw 
materials,  instruments  of  production,  and  living  labor. 
But  he  buvs  these  factors  for  the  purpose  of  combining 


$8       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

them  and  selling  at  a  profit.  He  must  find  some  factor, 
then,  which  can  be  purchased  for  less  than  its  real  worth 
— some  factor  in  the  buying  and  selling  of  which  he  can 
make  a  profit. 

It  must  be  clear  from  the  foregoing  that  no  surplus- 
value  can  arise  from  the  buying  and  selling  of  the  raw 
materials  and  the  implements  of  labor.  The  capitalist 
must  pay  full  value  for  these;  that  is,  they  can  only 
transfer  to  the  finished  product  such  value  as  they 
possess — their  cost.  These  factors  change  their  shape 
during  the  process  of  manufacture,  but  their  value  does 
not  change, — it  disappears  in  one  form  only  to  reappear 
in  another,  but  with  no  increase.  That  which  the  capital- 
ist pays  for  these  factors  is  simply  transferred  to  the  new 
product. 

But  how  about  the  other  factor,  the  labor-power  ? 
Can  the  capitalist  purchase  this  factor  for  less  than  its 
real  worth?  In  order  to  answer  this  question  intelligently 
we  need  to  understand  how  the  price  of  labor-power  is 
determined.  Under  the  present  system  the  laborer  is 
obliged  to  offer  his  labor-power  for  sale  as  a  commodity, 
— it  being  the  only  thing  he  has  to  dispose  of, — and  thus 
the  labor  market  becomes  a  branch  of  the  general 
market  of  commodities.  Now  the  cost  of  this  labor- 
power  is  determined,  like  that  of  every  other  commodity, 
by  its  cost  of  production, — by  the  standard  of  subsistence 
rising  out  of  the  customs,  etc.,  of  any  particular  stage  of 
civilization.  If,  for  the  laborer  to  work  and  reproduce 
his  labor-power,  certain  foods,  shelter,  etc.,  are  requisite, 
then  the  sum  of  these  necessaries  is  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion, which,  translated  into  price,  equals  ten  or  fifteen 
cents  per  hour  as  the  case  may  be.  The  laborer  by  work- 
ing expends  a  certain  amount  of  muscle, nerve, brain,  etc., 
which  must  be  replaced.  The  value  of  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence necessary  to  accomplish  this  result,  is  the  marke' 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  S  URPL  US-  VAL  UE.  59 

valuv  of  the  labor-power.  To  this,  however,  must  be 
addea  —inasmuch  as  the  owner  of  the  labor-power  is 
mortal — that  which  is  necessary  to  enable  him  to  per- 
petuate his  kind ;  that  is,  to  raise  up  a  new  labor-power 
to  take  his  place  that  the  market  may  not  be  depleted. 
Thus  far  I  have  been  speaking  of  common  labor,  but 
skilled  and  professional  labor  forms  no  exception.  The 
special  training-  requisite  to  these  branches  costs  a  cer- 
tain equivalent  in  commodities  and  this  enters  into  the 
cost  of  production. 

Now  the  owner  of  labor-power,  like  the  possessor  of 
any  other  commodity,  sells  its  use-value  and  in  return 
receives  its  exchange-value.  The  laborer  cannot  secure 
payment  for  the  use-value — the  real  worth — of  his  labor- 
power  for  the  reason  that  the  means  of  production  are 
monopolized  by  the  employer.  Not  being  able  to  employ 
himself,  he  must  compete  with  his  fellows  in  the  labor 
market  for  an  opportunity  to  work.  This  competition 
among  laborers  forces  the  wage  down  to  the  point  of 
bare  subsistence.  The  employer  takes  advantage  of  the 
laborer's  necessities  and  purchases  his  labor-power  at  its 
exchange-value,  which  is  thus  determined  by  the  com- 
petitive market.  The  capitalist,  then,  having  bought  a 
day's  labor-power  has  the  use  of  it  for  a  day.  All  the 
wealth  that  this  labor-power  creates  during  the  day  is 
appropriated  by  the  employer.  That  which  the  em- 
ployer pays  for  the  labor-power  has  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  the  amount  of  value  the  laborer  creates.  The 
laborer's  wage  is  determined  by  the  competitive  labor 
market, — by  the  cost  of  the  laborer's  sustenance, — which 
equals  only  about  half  a  day's  labor ;  that  is,  the  laborel 
produces  in  one-half  day  that  which  will  enable  him  to 
live  the  whole  day,  and  keep  up  his  labor-power.  The 
employer,  therefore,  gives  him  for  his  day's  labor  that 
which  he  has  produced  in  half  a  day.  The  value 


60       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

power  and  the  value  which  labor-power  produces  are 
two  entirely  different  quantities.  It  is  in  view  of  this 
difference  that  the  employer  buys  labor-power. 

It  is  labor-power,  then,  that  the  capitalist  purchase, 
for  less  than  its  real  worth — less  than  the  value  whic'.i  it 
adds  to  the  product.  The  other  two  factors  add  no  more 
value  to  the  product  than  the  capitalist  pays  for  them. 
The  value  of  the  product  is  equal  to  the  labor-worth  of 
the  factors  of  production ;  that  is,  the  labor  represented 
by  these  factors  constitute  the  product's  value.  It  is 
only  because  the  capitalist  can  buy  the  living-labor  for 
less  than  the  value  which  it  adds  to  the  product  that  he 
secures  a  profit.  The  capitalist  is  thus  enabled  to  take 
advantage  of  the  laborer  because  the  means  of  produc- 
tion have  been  monopolized  and  the  laborer  being  un- 
able to  employ  himself  must  submit  to  the  outrage  or 
starve. 

At  last  we  have  found  the  method  by  which  surplus- 
value  is  created.  It  consists  in  buying  and  selling  labor- 
power — buying  it  at  its  market  value,  and  selling  it  at 
its  use-value.  Surplus-value  is  the  difference  between 
the  value  of  labor-power  and  the  value  of  labor's  prod- 
uct,— between  what  labor  creates  and  what  it  receives. 
This  surplus-value,  which  is  exploited  from  labor,  is 
called  fleecings. 

The  distinction  between  the  process  of  producing 
value  and  surplus-value  is  in  the  extension  of  the  latter 
beyond  the  former.  If  the  labor-power  expended  does 
not  exceed  the  value  advanced  by  the  capitalist  for  the 
labor-power — the  time  sufficient  to  replace  the  value  paid 
by  the  capitalist — then  only  value  is  produced.  But  if 
the  process  is  extended  beyond  that  point,  the  value 
created  in  excess  becomes  surplus-value.  The  laborer  is 
obliged  to  work  during  a  portion  of  the  day  to  produce 
the  value  of  his  labor-power, — the  value  of  his  means  of 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  S  URPL  US-  VAL  UE.  & 1 

subsistence.  This,  say,  requires,  on  an  average,  five 
hours'  labor,  and  is  called  "  necessary  labor,"  or  "  neces- 
sary labor  time,"  it  being  the  amount  of  time  necessary 
to  produce  his  keep.  The  second  portion  of  the  day, 
although  the  laborer  expends  as  much  labor-power  as 
during  the  first,  his  labor  is  not  necessary,  as  it  creates 
only  surplus-value.  This  portion  of  the  labor-day  is 
called  "  surplus-labor  "  or  "  surplus  labor-time."  The 
amount  of  exploitation,  or  of  surplus-value,  equals  the- 
amount  of  surplus-labor.  If  the  necessary  labor  equals 
five  hours,  and  the  surplus-labor  equals  five  hours,  the 
degree  of  exploitation,  or  rate  of  surplus-value,  is  one 
hundred  per  cent.  The  laborer  works  one-half  day  for 
himself  and  one-half  day  for  the  capitalist. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  surplus-value  can  be 
produced.  One  method  we  have  already  noted., — that  of 
the  prolongation  of  the  working  day  beyond  the  time 
necessary  to  produce  an  equivalent  for  the  value  paid  by 
the  capitalist  for  the  labor-power.  But  another  method 
of  accomplishing  the  same  result  is  to  shorten  the  time 
of  the  necessary  labor.  This  adds  to  the  surplus-labor 
that  which  is  taken  from  the  necessary  labor.  The  former 
is  called  "absolute  surplus-value"  and  the  latter  "relative 
surplus-value."  In  order  to  create  relative  surplus-value, 
there  must  be  an  increase  in  the  productiveness  of  labor, 
so  that  the  means  of  subsistence,  which  determines  the 
value  of  labor-power,  will  be  decreased, — so  that  an 
equivalent  for  the  wages  is  produced  in  less  time.  This 
is  the  whole  purpose  of  capitalist  production, — to  in- 
crease the  productiveness  of  labor,  and  so  decrease  that 
portion  of  the  day  during  which  the  laborer  must  work 
for  his  own  benefit.  The  greater  the  productivity  of 
labor,  the  less  the  value  of  the  commodities,  and  also  of 
labor-power  which  depends  on  the  value  of  the  commo- 
dities. 


62        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

Surplus-value  and  the  value  of  labor-power  always 
vary  in  opposite  directions.  The  increase  of  one  neces- 
sitates the  diminution  of  the  other.  With  an  increase 
in  the  productiveness  or  intensity  of  labor,  labor-power 
falls  and  surplus-value  rises.  They  increase  and  dimin- 
ish in  the  same  quantity  but  not  necessarily  in  the  same 
proportion,  as  that  depends  upon  their  magnitude  before 
the  alteration  of  labor.  Every  change,  however,  in  the 
value  of  labor-power,  causes  an  inverse  variation  in  the 
magnitude  of  surplus-value. 

The  value  created  by  a  day  of  social-labor  is  a  con- 
stant quantity,  and  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  value  of  the 
labor-power  and  the  surplus-value.  If  a  constant  quan- 
tity consists  of  two  parts,  is  it  not  self-evident  that  you 
cannot  increase  the  one  without  diminishing  the  other  ? 
If  the  surplus-value  rises,  the  value  of  the  labor-power 
falls,  and  vice-versa,  but  the  value  of  labor-power  cannot 
fall  or  surplus-value  rise  without  an  increase  in  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  labor,  and  this  increase  of  productiveness 
must  affect  articles  habitually  consumed  by  laborers.1 

But  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  individual  value  of  neces- 
saries and  not  the  value  of  their  mass  that  varies  with  the 
productiveness  of  labor,  it  may  occur  that  both  laborer 

1  This,  of  course,  presupposes  that  the  length  of  the  working 
day  and  the  intensity  of  labor  are  constant.  These  items  are  in- 
cluded in  a  social-working  day.  It  is  the  average  degree  of  in- 
tensity,— the  average  expenditure  of  labor-power, — that  consti- 
tutes a  day  of  social  labor  time.  A  change,  however,  in  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  labor  does  not  affect  the  value  of  the  day's  product. 
For  instance,  if  a  working  day  of  ten  hours  creates  a  value  of  two 
dollars,  and  the  productivity  of  labor  increases  so  that  the  num- 
ber of  products  are  doubled,  the  only  result  would  be  to  spread 
the  value  of  the  two  dollars  over  double  the  number  of  products. 
A  day  of  social  labor,  then,  always  creates  the  same  amount  of 
value,  regardless  of  the  mass  of  the  products  or  the  individual 
price  of  each.  The  larger  the  mass,  the  less  the  single  value  uf 
each  commodity. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  SURPL  US-  VAL  UE.  63 

and  capitalist  may  receive  a  larger  quantity  of  commo- 
dities and  still  the  price  of  labor-power  and  of  surplus- 
value  remain  unaltered.  If  the  productivity  of  labor 
doubles  without  altering  the  ratio  between  necessary 
and  surplus-labor,  it  would  simply  mean  that  the  laborer 
and  capitalist  received  twice  as  many  commodities  as 
they  did  before.  The  total  value  of  the  commodities 
would  remain  unchanged,  but  their  individual  value 
would  be  reduced  one-half.  For  example,  if  ten  years 
ago  a  laborer  received  two  dollars  a  day  and  could  pur- 
chase with  that  a  certain  definite  quantity  of  commodi- 
ties, and  to-day  he  receives  the  same  wage,  but  owing  to 
the  increase  in  the  productiveness  of  his  labor  he  can 
purchase  double  the  quantity  of  necessities,  it  is  evident, 
inasmuch  as  his  wages  remain  the  same,  that  the  ratio 
between  the  necessary  and  surplus-labor  remains  unal- 
tered, and  that  the  result  of  the  increase  of  the  produc- 
tiveness of  labor  increases  equally  the  portion  of  both 
laborer  and  capitalist.  But  now  suppose  the  laborer  re- 
ceives only  one  dollar  a  day.  One  dollar  will  now  buy 
as  much  as  two  dollars  did  formerly.  The  laborer,  then, 
is  as  well  off  as  before, — he  being  able  to  purchase  as 
many  necessaries  as  before  his  wages  were  reduced.  But 
while  the  laborer  is  no  worse  off,  the  capitalist  is  much 
better  off.  The  necessary  labor  has  decreased  one-half 
and  the  surplus-labor  increased  in  like  proportions. 

It  is  often  true  that,  owing  to  the  temporary  resistance 
of  labor,  the  price  of  the  labor-power  does  not  immedi- 
ately fall  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  its  productive- 
ness. Thus,  if  the  productiveness  of  labor  is  doubled,  in- 
stead of  the  price  of  labor-power  falling  from  two  dollars 
to  one  dollar,  it  only  falls  to  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents.  The 
result  would  be  an  increase  in  the  quantity  of  necessaries, 
although  the  value  of  labor-power  has  really  fallen  by 
one-fourth.  Thus  the  quantity  of  necessaries  received  by 


64       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM- 

labor  may  increase  while  the  value  of  the  labor-power  is 
falling.  This  explains  the  anomaly  of  the  laborer  being 
worse  off  and  at  the  same  time  better  off.  It  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  price  of  labor-power  does  not  imme- 
diately fall  to  the  point  consistent  with  its  new  value.  If 
the  laborer  is  able  to  resist,  or  temporarily  check,  the 
working  of  this  law, — the  falling  of  the  price  of  labor- 
power  in  proportion  to  its  increased  productiveness, — he 
gains  an  advantage,  and,  although  his  labor-power  is  fall- 
ing, he  is  absolutely  better  off,  though  relatively  he  is 
worse  off,  and  is  obliged  to  submit  to  greater  exploita- 
tion. His  gain,  however,  is  but  transitory,  for  sooner  or 
later  the  inevitable  tendency  will  work  its  fulfilment. 

In  the  past  stages  of  production  the  productiveness  of 
labor  was  small,  consequently  the  number  who  lived  off 
the  surplus-labor  of  others  was  relatively  small.  But  as 
the  productiveness  of  labor  increased,  the  necessary 
labor  decreased,  and  the  number  living  in  idleness  has 
correspondingly  enlarged.  If  the  laborer  must  spend  the 
most  of  his  time  in  producing  his  necessities,  of  course, 
he  has  but  little  superfluous  time  in  which  to  work  gratis 
for  others.  But  without  this  superfluous  time  there 
could  be  no  slave  owners,  no  feudal  lords,  and  no  capital- 
ists. The  very  existence  of  these  non-producers  neces- 
sitates a  certain  degree  of  productiveness  in  labor;  for 
if  the  laborer  can  produce  only  the  means  of  his  own  sub- 
sistence, there  is  no  surplus-product  to  be  exploited  by 
others. 

We  here  need  to  note  the  distinction  between  the  value 
of  a  commodity  and  its  capitalist  cost  of  production.  The 
cost  of  production  to  the  capitalist  is  the  amount  of 
capital  expended  in  production.  To  him  the  surplus- 
value  forms  no  element  of  value  as  it  costs  him  nothing; 
it  represents  only  the  unpaid  labor  of  others,  and  so  does 
not  enter  into  his  conception  of  cost.  Value,  on  the  other 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  SURPLUS-  VALUE.  6$ 

hand,  expresses  not  the  capital  cost  but  the  labor  cost. 
It  is  the  amount  of  social-labor  crystalized  in  a  commo- 
dity. Surplus-value,  then,  is  the  difference  between  the 
capitalist  cost  and  the  labor  cost  of  a  commodity.  It 
does  not  arise,  as  is  often  supposed,  from  a  difference 
between  the  value  and  the  selling  price.  Here  is  where 
the  capitalist  is  often  deceived.  As  he  is  only  interested 
in  the  capital  which  he  expends,  he  assumes,  without 
careful  analysis,  that  a  commodity's  cost  in  capital  repre- 
sents its  real  and  natural  value.  Consequently,  when  he 
sells  the  articles  in  excess  of  this  cost,  he  thinks  he  is 
selling  it  in  excess  of  its  value,  and  so  assumes  that  he 
himself  creates  the  surplus-value  in  the  process  of  cir- 
culation. But  this  is  erroneous.  The  fact  that  he  real- 
izes the  surplus-value  or  profit  by  the  process  of  circula- 
tion blinds  him  to  the  fact  that  the  profit  arises  in  the 
process  of  production,  by  the  withheld  wages  of  his  em- 
ployees. 

Now  commodities,  as  a  whole,  when  they  leave  the 
factory,  sell  at  their  labor  cost.  But  although  wares  sell 
at  their  value,  they  do  not  cost  the  capitalist  their  full 
value,  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  has  monopolized  the  in- 
struments of  production,  and  is  able  to  buy  labor-power 
at  a  less  price  than  it  is  worth.  He  buys  it  at  its  ex- 
change-value and  sells  it  at  its  use-value,  thus  making 
the  difference.  All  profits  are  a  part  of  the  value  of 
goods  which  the  laborer  produces,  and  which  the  capital- 
ist withholds  from  him.  The  price  paid  for  labor-power 
is  less  than  the  value  which  that  labor-power  creates, 
and  the  difference  is  capitalist  profits,  fleecings,  or  sur- 
plus-value 

All  surplus-value,  then,  arises  from  the  exploitation  of 
labor.  It  has  its  origin  in  the  wage  and  profit  system 
of  production  and  distribution.  It  is  inherent  in  the 
capitalist  order  of  industry  and  can  only  be  removed  by 
Socialism. 


66        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ADVANTAGES   OF  SOCIALISM. 

THE  advantages  of  Socialism  are  almost  innumerable, 
and  pertain  to  every  department  of  life.  Although  the 
new  order  has  to  do,  chiefly,  with  economic  relations, 
still  it  has  many  indirect  bearings  of  vast  importance.  It 
is  my  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  point  out  some  of  the 
more  important  advantages  of  the  Socialist  State. 

i.  PRODUCTION. 

Under  Socialism  all  the  forces  would  work  for  a  large 
product,  whereas,  at  present,  certain  forces  strive  to 
diminish  production.  This  is  perfectly  natural  when  pro- 
duction is  carried  on  for  exchange,  for  an  abundance  of 
commodities  would  mean  small  values.  Production, 
therefore,  is  often  checked  lest  diminished  value  result 
from  increase  of  quantity.  The  interests  of  society  and 
the  interests  of  private  producers  are  antagonistic.  So- 
ciety wants  a  large  product  but  producers  want  high 
values,  and  value  depends  upon  a  limited  supply.  Were 
there  a  sufficient  quantity  of  any  commodity  to  satisfy 
all  demands,  such  would  cease  to  possess  value.  Thus 
we  cannot  hope  for  harmony  of  interests  under  our  pres- 
ent system.  Were  production  carried  on  for  consump- 
tion, and  not  for  exchange,  an  abundance  would  be 
hailed  with  joy,  for  the  larger  the  supply  the  greater  the 
means  of  satisfying  our  wants.  But  so  long  as  the  nation 
depends  upon  the  profit  principle  to  stimulate  produc- 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  6f 

tion,  just  so  long  will  there  be  an  insufficiency  produced, 
for  production  will  be  checked  at  the  very  point  where 
it  begins  to  be  effective.  People  need  never  expect  to  be 
delivered  from  want  and  poverty  under  the  present  sys- 
tem, for  so  long  as  we  produce  for  profit  and  sale,  it  is 
values  that  are  required,  and  values  are  opposed  to 
abundance. 

This  divergence  between  individual  or  class  interests 
and  social  interests  would  disappear  under  Socialism, 
and  all  the  forces  would  unite  with  but  one  end  in  view, 
— the  satisfaction  of  human  wants.  Society  would  set 
all  willing  hands  at  work,  and  the  country  would  rever- 
berate with  joyful  labor.  No  poverty,  no  degradation, 
no  want,  but  "  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  toward  men." 

Socialism  would  secure  an  abundance  in  the  realm  of 
production  by  a  systematized  organization  of  industry. 
Let  me  point  out  some  of  the  advantages  of  a  right  di- 
rection of  labor  in  production. 

(i)  In  Local  Industries. — Suppose  in  a  city  there  are 
loo  carpenter  establishments  together  employing  600 
men.  The  100  employers  spend  much  of  their  time  seek- 
ing jobs  and  endeavoring  to  beat  each  other.  They  are 
often  in  financial  embarassment,  and  the  press  of  com- 
petition is  so  great  that  in  a  time  of  industrial  depression 
many  of  them  succumb.  When  in  their  offices  they  have 
much  necessary  work  to  do  in  the  way  of  writing  letters, 
preparing  estimates,  etc.,  all  of  which  is  necessary  but  of 
little  productivity.  The  laborers,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
wage-slaves,  .absolutely  dependent,  and  who,  as  the  re- 
sult of  competition  and  planless  production,  are  fre- 
quently out  of  employment.  Their  position  is  very 
precarious,  resulting  in  over-work  and  weariness  one 
week,  and  idleness  and  starvation  the  next. 

These  100  employers  have  as  many  shops,  each  of 
which  is  equipped  with  the  necessary  tools  and  machin- 


68       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

try.  Each  is  also  obliged  to  carry  a  certain  amount  of 
stock  on  hand  in  case  of  an  emergency.  Under  Social- 
ism,-in  place  of  these  100  directors,  whose  efforts  are 
mostly  unproductive,  we  would  need  but  ten  at  the  most. 
In  place  of  the  100  establishments  with  their  inferior 
tools,  we  would  have  but  one  large  magnificent  co-op- 
erative factory,  equipped  with  the  best  mechanical  ap- 
pliances. In  place  of  the  600  employees,  who,  under 
competition,  are  idle  much  of  the  time,  we  would  need, 
in  steady  employment,  but  about  200,  and  these  would 
not  be  economic  serfs,  working  long  hours  for  short  pay, 
but  intelligent  workmen,  receiving  the  full  value  of  their 
toil.  Think  of  the  amount  of  capital  and  labor  in  this 
one  industry  which  is  to-day  uselessly  employed. 
Socialism  would  turn  this  vast  array  of  capital  and  labor 
into  useful  production.  What  a  tremendous  saving  to 
society  !  That  which  is  true  of  carpentering  is  also  true 
of  the  various  other  industries,  such  as  plumbing,  mason- 
work,  printing,  tailoring,  blacksmithing,  etc.  Apply  this 
principle  of  systematization  to  all  these  businesses,  and 
what  an  enormous  economy  in  labor  and  capital  would 
be  effected.  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  advantages  of 
Socialism  in  this  field,  for  the  result  is  evident. 

(2)  In  National  Industries. — By  national,  here,  I  mean 
those  industries  whose  services  or  products  are  not  con- 
fined to  the  local  market. 

There  were  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  agricultural 
implements,  according  to  the  statistics  of  1890,  910  es- 
tablishments. The  number  of  employees  was  42,544, 
and  the  total  wages  paid  amounted  to  $21,811,761.  The 
total  capital  invested  was  $145,313,997  and  the  aggregate 
value  of  the  product  amounted  to  $81,271,651,  while  the 
cost  of  the  materials  used  is  given  at  $31,603,265.  Now 
if  we  allow  5  per  cent,  of  the  total  capital  invested  as  a 
fair  estimate  of  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  machinery,  im- 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  69 

plements,  buildings,  etc., — and  this  would  be  a  liberal 
estimate,  as  but  a  small  part  of  the  capital  is  invested  in 
machinery,  where  most  of  the  depreciation  occurs,  and 
add  this  amount  ($7,265,699)  to  the  value  of  the  raw 
materials  used  ($31,603,265),  and  substract  the  sum  from 
the  total  value  of  the  product  ($81,271,651),  we  get  the 
net  value  of  the  product,  which  is  $42,402,687.  This  is 
the  value  actually  added  to  the  raw  materials  by  labor 
in  forming  them  in  finished  products.  Of  this  value  the 
laborers  receive  in  wages  $21,811,761,  and  are  exploited 
out  of  $20,590,926. 

Under  Socialism  these  910  manufactories  could  easily 
be  reduced  to  ten  large  establishments,  which,  under  com- 
plete organization  and  continuous  operation,  would  pro- 
duce the  yearly  product  at  less  cost  and  with  one-third 
the  expenditure  of  labor-force.  This  would  mean  the 
abolition  of  the  910  manufacturers  who,  together,  appro- 
priate as  profits  $20,590,926,  and  the  addition  of  this 
amount  directly  to  the  wages  of  the  employees.  But  as 
the  number  of  the  laborers  under  Socialism  would  be 
reduced  two-thirds,  the  total  value  of  $42,402,687  would 
then  be  divided  among  14,181  laborers.  This  would 
mean  that  each  laborer  would  receive  $2,990.00  instead 
of  $512.00  as  to-day.  That  which  is  true  of  the  manufac- 
ture of  agricultural  implements  is  true  of  the  whole  355,- 
415  mechanical  and  manufacturing  industries.  Think  of 
what  an  advantage  this  would  be,  not  only  to  individual 
laborers,  but  to  society  as  a  whole.  Think  of  the  vast 
army  of  laborers  that  would  be  thus  liberated  and  set  at 
useful  employment  !  The  saving  here  would  be  enor- 
mous. 

(3)  In  Agriculture. — The  farmer  to-day  produces  for 
a  capricious  market.  He  has  no  conception  of  the  com- 
mercial demand  for  his  product,  nor  how  much  his  fel- 
low-farmers are  going  to  produce  and  sell,  although  his 


^O        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

success  or  failure  depends  upon  his  rival's  productira 
He  notes  that  potatoes  have  been  unusually  high  of  l#t& 
and  thinks  that  a  good  crop  to  raise.  But  his  rivals  have 
also  been  watching  the  market  and  have  decided  to  plant 
their  farms  to  potatoes.  The  result  is  over-production 
and  prices  fall.  Well,  our  first  farmer  decides  to  raise 
barley  next  year,  as  that  has  been  bringing  a  good  price, 
but  thousands  have  come  to  the  same  conclusion  and 
failure  results.  Thus  it  ever  is  under  our  planless  system 
of  procedure.  Not  only  individuals  suffer  but  society 
also,  for  economic  energy  has  not  been  utilized  to  the 
best  advantage.  In  contrast  with  this  chaotic  method, 
the  Socialist  would  ascertain  the  demand,  the  number  oi 
bushels  required,  the  number  of  acres  necessary,  and 
arrange  the  forces  to  meet  it.  This  would  be  an  easy 
matter,  for  when  we  deal  with  productive  forces  on  a 
large  scale  the  element  of  chance  is  almost  entirely 
eliminated.  While  the  crop  might  fail  in  one  section,  it 
would  be  abundant  in  another,  and,  perhaps,  next  year, 
vice  versa,  but  the  general  average  would  be  maintained. 
The  larger  the  scale  and  the  more  completely  organized 
the  production,  the  less  the  risk.  What  an  advantage 
such  an  organization  of  agriculture  would  be  to  society  ! 
Surely  such  shiftless,  wasteful  methods  as  are  employed 
to-day  are  akin  to  barbarism. 

The  advantages  of  farming  on  a  large  scale  may  be 
seen  in  the  "  Bononza"  farms  of  the  west.  When  all  agri- 
culture is  organized  what  a  saving  it  will  effect.  In  place 
of  a  hundred  farms  with  their  barns,  yards,  stables,  and 
houses,  one  of  each  will  suffice.  Then  what  a  saving  in 
horses,  wagons,  fences,  tools,  etc.  And  then  what  a  sav- 
ing in  labor ;  how  many  thousands  of  workmen  would 
be  liberated  and  rendered  available  for  other  pursuits  ! 
In  place  of  the  paltry  tools  of  the  small  farmer  there 
would  be  the  electric  plows,  hayrakes,  reapers,  etc.,  with 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  ?l 

which  thousands  of  acres  could  be  cultivated  with  less 
labor  than  it  now  requires  to  cultivate  hundreds.  Agri- 
culture on  a  large  scale  greatly  reduces  the  cost  of  com- 
modities. Mr.  Wells,  in  Recent  Economic  Changes,  quotes 
statistics  to  show  that  on  ranches  of  50,000  acres  the  cost 
of  raising  wheat  per  hundred  pounds  is  only  40  cents,  while 
on  farms  of  1,000  acres  it  cost  92^  cents  per  hundred 
pounds.  Prof.  Fawcett  says  that  "  it  has  been  calculated 
that  a  steam  cultivator  would  plough  a  square  field  of  ten 
acres  in  half  the  time  occupied  in  ploughing  two  fields 
of  five  acres  each,  and  with  two-thirds  the  expense." 
Such  are  some  of  the  advantages  of  Socialistic  agricul- 
ture. 

2.  DISTRIBUTION. 

If  organized  production  is  advantageous,  we  shall  find 
organized  distribution  equally  so.1  Socialism  proposes 
to  substitute  an  orderly  method  of  distribution  in  place 
of  the  haphazard  one  of  private  enterprise.  Under 
Socialism  trade  and  commerce,  as  they  exist  to-day, 
would  be  a  thing  of  the  past.  There  would  be  no  buying 
and  selling  with  a  view  to  profit.  The  endeavor  would 
be  to  get  goods  from  producers  to  consumers  with  the 

1  The  word  distribution  is  here  used  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is 
popularly  employed.  Technically  speaking,  those  who  transport 
arid  exchange  goods  are  not  distributers  of  wealth  but  producers. 
The  purpose  of  production  is  the  satisfaction  of  human  desires, 
and  production  is  not  really  complete  until  wealth  is  brought  to 
the  consumer.  But  in  common  speech,  those  engaged  in  trans- 
portation and  exchange  are  styled  "  distributers,"  although  in 
economic  phraseology  distribution  really  refers  to  the  division  of 
the  product  of  production  among  the  various  factors  of  production, 
as  wages  versus  interest,  rent  and  profits.  Let  us  bear  in  mind, 
then,  that  those  we  speak  of  as  "  distributers  "  are  as  much  pro- 
ducers  of  wealth,  if  they  are  usefully  employed,  as  those  engaged 
in  the  primary,  extractive  or  formative  processes.  If  we  keep 
this  in  mind  the  popular  use  of  the  word  will  cause  no  confusion. 


72        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

least  possible  expenditure  of  capital  and  labor.  Com- 
modities would  be  transported  to  great  central  ware- 
houses from  which  they  would  be  conveyed  to  the  ba- 
zaars or  department  stores,  one  of  which  would  be  situ- 
ated in  each  district  or  ward.  From  these  central  stores 
they  would  be  distributed  to  each  in  accordance  with  his 
income.  Each  bazaar  would  contain  an  assortment  of  all 
the  nation's  products,  the  prices  of  which  would  be  uni- 
form, and  the  quality  guaranteed  by  the  government 
stamp. 

These  ward  or  district  stores  need  carry  but  samples 
of  many  wares,  all  large  commodities  being  kept  in 
stock  at  the  central  warehouses,  from  which  orders 
would  be  filled,  thus  saving  useless  handling  of  goods. 
Under  such  a  systematized  method  of  distribution  it  is 
estimated  that  one-eightieth  of  the  population  instead  of 
one-eighth,  as  now,  would  suffice  to  bring  commodities 
from  the  producer  to  the  consumer.  This  would  be  a 
saving  of  nine-tenths  of  the  economic  force  now  ex- 
pended. That  we  may  fully  appreciate  how  this  economy 
would  be  effected  let  us  glance  at  a  few  instances. 

In  the  ward  in  which  I  reside  (Jersey  City,  Eighth 
Ward),  there  are  189  stores  of  various  kinds.  Besides 
the  proprietor  of  each  there  are  a  host  of  employees. 
Under  Socialism  all  of  these  branches  of  distribution 
would  be  assembled  in  one  ward  department  store. 
Under  the  present  system  there  are  these  189  stores  to 
be  maintained,  and  each  of  the  employers  to  be  remun- 
erated for  his  capital  invested  and  risk  involved.  This 
means  that,  as  his  sales  are  limited,  he  must  charge  ex- 
orbitant prices  for  his  wares,  or  make  up  by  short 
weights  or  inferior  goods.  Then  the  number  of  em- 
ployees necessitated  by  this  competition  (some  400  or 
500),  could  be  easily  reduced  nine-tenths.  In  fact,  the 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  7? 

number  of  employers  alone  would  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
suffice  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  district  store. 

Not  only  would  a  saving  be  effected  in  the  number  of 
clerks,  bookkeepers,  etc.,  but  also  in  the  delivery  system. 
Think  of  the  present  waste  involved  in  the  delivery  of 
goods  from  these  various  stores  !  Three  or  four  times 
as  many  men,  horses  and  wagons  are  required  as  would 
be  needed  were  the  business  centralized.  The  meat 
markets  and  groceries,  for  instance,  must  have  each  its 
delivery  system.  One  supplies  one  house,  another  the 
next,  and  so  on;  perhaps  five  or  six  supply  families  in 
the  same  block ;  thus  their  delivery  wagons  cross  and 
re-cross  each  other,  all  in  planless  confusion.  Socialism 
would  unify  the  delivery  system  by  doing  away  with 
private  competition,  and  thus  save  this  useless  expendi- 
ture of  economic  effort.  Socialism  would  effect,  in  one 
ward  alone,  a  great  saving  in  labor  and  capital.  But 
what  a  tremendous  economy  throughout  a  whole  muni- 
cipality ! 

That  which  is  true  of  the  municipality  is  equally  true 
of  the  town.  In  the  town  in  which  I  was  born  and 
brought  up  (Tully,  N.  Y.),  there  were  fourteen  stores, 
several  of  which  were  of  the  same  kind,  and  many  kept 
an  assortment  of  all  wares,  as  drugs  and  groceries, 
groceries  and  dry-goods,  as  is  usually  the  case  in  coun- 
try stores.  This  means  that  there  were  fourteen  estab- 
lishments to  be  maintained  and  fourteen  employers  or 
firms  and  their  families  to  be  supported  by  the  com- 
munity. Nor  is  this  all.  Each  store  employed,  prob- 
ably, on  an  average,  two  clerks,  so  that  the  total  number 
of  men,  employers  and  employees,  engaged  in  serving 
the  community  (which  numbered  about  600  people),  was, 
approximately,  forty-five.  Were  all  the  business  con- 
centrated in  one  department  store,  at  least  one-third  of 
the  number  of  men  engaged  would  have  sufficed  to 


74       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

meet  all  the  needs.  Who  supports  these  useless  store*  ? 
The  community,  of  course.  But  why  should  that  little 
town  be  so  wasteful  ?  Is  it  less  insane  for  sotiety  to 
support  fourteen  stores  when  but  one  is  needed,  than  for 
a  man  to  employ  fourteen  clerks  where  onewou\d  suffice? 
Think  of  the  waste  in  this  one  town,  and  the-i  think  of 
the  number  of  towns  in  the  country  with  theiY  thousands 
of  useless  proprietors,  thousands  of  needles1?  clerks,  and 
thousands  of  buildings,  all  uselessly  maintained  by  pro- 
ductive labor.  Socialism  would  utilize  this  vast  army  in 
productive  employment. 

3.  ELIMINATION  OF  USELESS  VACATIONS. 

(i)  Lawyers. — The  members  of  this  class,  called  by 
Wm.  Morris  the  "  parasites  of  property,"  are  entirely 
dependent  upon  those  who  enjoy  special  privileges.  The 
chief  cause  of  litigation  is  private  contract  and  private 
capital.  With  the  abolition  of  these  factors  of  industrial- 
ism at  least  nine-tenths  of  the  litigation  would  disap- 
pear, and  consequently  the  waste  involved  would  be 
saved.  The  89,630  lawyers  of  the  United  States  would 
be  turned  into  the  field  of  wealth  production. 

Whatever  litigation  arises  under  the  new  order  would 
be  attended  to  without  the  interception  of  lawyers.  Den- 
mark may  furnish  us  a  model  here  in  her  "  Courts  of  Con- 
ciliation," which  have  existed  in  that  country  since  1828. 
Says  Mr.  Gronlund,  "  The  distinguishing  feature  of 
those  courts  is  that  no  lawyers  are  allowed  there.  All 
suits  whatsoever,  without  regard  to  the  amounts  in- 
volved, must,  in  the  first  place,  be  brought  before  these 
courts..  The  judge  takes  down  the  oral  complaint  of 
the  plaintiff  and  the  oral  defense  of  the  defendant,  and 
renders  judgment  accordingly.  If,  however,  either  of 
the  parties  is  dissatisfied  with  the  judgment,  the  judge 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  75 

refers  the  case  to  the  regular  courts,  in  which  courts, 
however,  no  other  evidence  is  allowed  to  be  introduced 
but  that  which  was  laid  before  the  judge  sitting  in  the 
court  of  conciliation."  l 

Something  like  this  would  undoubtedly  find  favor  in 
the  Co-operative  Commonwealth.  Of  course  improve- 
ments might  be  suggested.  It  might  be  thought  well 
to  make  the  judgments  of  these  courts  conclusive ;  or,  as 
Mr.  Gronlund  suggests,  both  plaintiff  and  defendant 
might  each  select  a  judge,  who  would  take  the  testimony 
and  confer  together,  and  should  they  fail  to  agree  on  a 
decision,  would  select  a  third  judge,  and  the  decision  of 
the  majority  would  be  final.  In  criminal  cases  the  judge 
representing  the  State  would  be  selected  from  among 
themselves  by  the  judges  of  the  district.  This  method 
would  do  away  with  the  endless  evils  of  our  present 
judicial  system.  It  would  abolish  the  lawyer  class — the 
most  mischievous  of  all  classes. 

(2)  Advertisers. — The  vast  system  of  advertising  is  due 
to  competition.  It  is  necessitated  by  industrial  conflict. 
Think  of  the  vast  army  of  men  and  women  engaged  in 
this  unproductive  employment.  It  pertains  to  every 
business.  Everywhere  you  go  you  are  brought  face  to 
face  with  advertisements,  attractive  and  unattractive. 
They  are  in  every  newspaper,  every  street  car,  every  sta- 
tion, every  store  window,  and  posted  on  nearly  every 
fence,  post,  barn,  and  wall.  You  cannot  escape  them  by 
remaining  at  home,  for  bills  of  all  sizes  and  shapes  are 
thrust  upon  you,  and  even  flood  your  mail.  If  you  order 
goods,  you  cannot  get  at  them  without  taking  off  wrap- 
pers stamped  with  your  dealer's  name  and  delivered  in 
wagons  covered  with  announcements.  There  is  abso- 
lutely no  escape  from  the  pursuit  of  the  ravenous  adver- 

1  Co-operative  Commonwealth,  Gronlund,  p.  215. 


76        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

tisers.  But  think  of  the  colossal  waste  involved  !  Thi& 
advertising  necessitates  thousands  upon  thousands  ot 
draughtsmen,  printers,  paper-hangers,  bill-posters,  car- 
penters, mechanics,  painters,  gilders,  etc. 

But  why  all  this  waste  of  economic  effort  ?  Simply 
to  enable  one  man  to  get  ahead  of  someone  else.  The 
whole  process  is  selfish  and  repugnant  to  any  refined 
taste.  However,  it  is  essential  to  capitalism.  It  is  part 
and  parcel  of  industrial  competition,  and  the  expendi- 
ture increases  with  the  fierceness  of  competition.  What 
a  tremendous  loss  to  society  !  Society  is  in  no  way 
benefited  by  this  expenditure,  but  rather  injured,  for  it 
engenders  unwholesome  rivalry,  and  begets  corruption. 
Socialism  would  abolish  this  useless,  unproductive  class, 
and  convert  its  thousands  into  useful  functionaries. 
Competition  necessitates  this  enormous  waste  of  eco- 
nomic effort ;  Socialism  would  prevent  it. 

(3)  Drummers. — Drummers  constitute  a  useless  class. 
"  Careful  estimates  from  a  variety  of  sources,"  says  Ed- 
ward Sanborn,  "  place  the  number  of  commercial  trav- 
ellers in  this  country  at  250,000."  He  then  figures  their 
expenses,  salaries,  etc.,  and  places  the  total  at  $997,500,- 
ooo.  The  institution  of  drumming  adds  nothing  to  the 
aggregate  product  of  the  country;  it  simply  increases 
the  price  of  goods  which  consumers  have  to  buy,  as  the 
entire  cost  of  this  useless  class  is  added  to  the  prices  of 
commodities.  Neither  does  the  drummer,  on  the  whole, 
in  any  way  effect  consumption,  for  goods  would  have  to 
be  bought  and  consumed,  drummer  or  no  drummer. 

Drumming,  like  advertising,  is  begotten  of  competi- 
tion. It  means  that  there  is  not  trade  enough  to  go 
around,  and  each  is  trying  to  secure  a  portion  at  the 
expense  of  his  fellows.  This  is  a  wholly  selfish  pro- 
cedure, for  the  success  of  one  means  the  failure  of  others. 
This  selfishness  and  waste  is  caused  by  industrial  war- 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  77 

fare.  Socialism  would  set  these  250,000  men  at  useful 
employment.  They  would  then  become  producers  of 
wealth  instead  of  mere  consumers  of  the  wealth  produced 
by  others. 

(4)  Bankers  and  Insurance  Men. — The  institutions  of 
banking  and  insurance  are  useful,  yea,  indispensable, 
under  our  present  system,  but  they  would  be  rendered 
useless  by  Socialism.  Bankers  and  brokers,  for  instance, 
who  are  the  middlemen  for  debtors  and  creditors,  are 
necessitated  by  the  system  of  private  enterprise,  but 
would  be  useless  under  a  system  of  public  enterprise. 
Socialism  would  abolish  money  and  consequently  there 
would  be  no  need  of  bankers  to  manipulate  it.  There 
would  be  no  need  of  private  insurance,  for  Socialism 
itself  is  the  best  scheme  of  insurance  ever  devised.  This 
means  that  millions  of  dollars  would  be  saved  and  thou- 
sands of  men  would  be  converted  into  producers.  By 
becoming  the  universal  banker  and  insurer  Socialism 
would  render  our  present  banking  and  insurance  systems 
unnecessary. 

The  thousands  upon  thousands  of  men  thus  employed 
would  be  utilized  under  the  new  regime  in  productive 
enterprise.  In  view  of  these  hosts,  now  engaged  in  use- 
less vocations,  being  turned  into  productive  employ- 
ment, does  the  Socialist  claim  seem  Utopian  that  with 
the  right  direction  of  labor  one  or  two  hours'  work  a 
day  would  suffice  to  supply  all  with  the  comforts  and 
even  luxuries  of  life  ? 

Prof.  Hertzka,  of  Vienna,  Austria,  has  shown  that  the 
5,000,000  men  of  that  nation  able  to  work  could  produce, 
in  a  rightly  directed  society,  with  the  present  mechanical 
appliances,  that  which  is  required  to  support  in  ease  and 
comfort,  and  even  in  luxury,  the  22,000,000  of  inhabi- 
tants of  Austria,  were  the  5,000,000  men  to  work  but  two 
hours  and  twelve  minutes  per  day  for  only  two  months 


78       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

a  year.  "  Behold,"  he  says,  "  what  time  could  be  spared 
for  study  and  pleasures,  while  the  cares  of  life,  in  so  far 
as  wealth  is  concerned,  would  be  obliterated." 

Under  Socialism  the  hours  of  labor  would  be  con- 
tinually reduced  in  proportion  to  the  progress  of  pro- 
duction. If  the  introduction  of  new  methods  enabled 
more  products  to  be  produced  than  could  be  consumed 
were  all  employed  two  hours  a  day,  then  the  time  would 
be  reduced  to  one  hour,  and  so  on  until  all  could  be 
utilized  and  thus  enabled  to  earn  their  livelihood.  Under 
Socialism  there  would  be  no  drones  or  involuntarily 
idleness.  Everyone  desiring  employment  would  find 
opportunity  to  coin  his  labor  into  wealth.  The  aboli- 
tion of  these  useless  callings  would  be  a  tremendous  ad- 
vantage in  behalf  of  Socialism. 

4.  PREVENTION  OF  WASTE. 

(i)  Railway  Corporations. — Railways  furnish  a  good 
illustration  of  the  waste  involved  in  competition.  Take 
two  parallel  lines  such  as  the  New  York  Central  and 
Hudson  River  Railway  and  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michi- 
gan Southern,  which  run  from  New  York  to  Chicago, 
and  the  West  Shore  and  Nickel  Plate.  These  last  lines 
were  built  to  compete  with  the  others,  but,  as  is  always 
the  case,  they  ended  by  combining.  Think  of  the  tre- 
mendous expenditure  involved  in  their  construction.  It 
is  estimated  that  the  cost  was  two  hundred  millions  of 
dollars.  What  a  national  loss  !  But  this  is  not  all. 
These  lines  must  be  maintained  and  operated,  and  the 
waste  here  is  tremendous  !  But  this  is  only  one  in- 
stance. Prof.  Ely  estimates  the  total  loss  from  the  con- 
struction of  useless  railways  as  a  thousand  millions  of 
dollars.  This  is  the  first  cost.  Now  if  we  add  to  this 
the  subsequent  expenditures  involved,  we  have  a  sum 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  ft 

f/'.J/  enormous.  It  is  estimated  that  public  ownersh'ip 
would  save  over  seven  hundred  millions  of  dollars  an- 
nually.1 Think  of  what  a  saving  this  would  effect  in, 
say,  twenty-five  years.  All  of  this  loss  of  economic  power 
is  the  result  of  our  present  system. 

(2)  Telegraph  Companies. — The  telegraph  business  is 
another  illustration  of  the  waste  of  competition.     Com- 
petition has  been  tried  in  this  country,  as  elsewhere,  but 
only  to  fail.     Says  Prof.  Ely :    "  It  is  claimed  that  the 
capitalization   of  the  telegraphs   of  the   United   States, 
large  as  it  is,  does  not  exceed  the  amount  of  capital 
which    has    been    actually    invested.  .  .  .  The    Western 
Union,  which  is  the  principal  company,  and  which  has 
been  the  concern  to  swallow  the  others,  is  capitalized  at 
$100,000,000.    If  we  leave  out  of  consideration  any  other 
company  or  companies  existing  at  present,  and  deduct 
from  the  $100,000,000  the  $20,000,000  which  it  is  esti- 
mated would  be  sufficient  to  duplicate  the  plant,  we 
should  have  a  loss  of  $80,000,000.    This,  however,  is  but 
a  fractional  part  of  the  total  loss,  because  we  must  take 
into  account  the  needless  expense  involved  in  operating 
the  plants  which  have  been  ultimately  absorbed.     No 
one  can  tell  what  the  total  loss  is,  but  certainly  $100,- 
000,000  is  an  underestimate."  2 

(3)  Gas  Plants. — Gas  works  also  offer  an  example  of 
the  wastes  of  the  present  order.    Competition  in  this  field 
always  ends  in  combination  and  a  loss  to  the  city  equal 
to  the  capital  invested  in  all  the  unsuccessful  attempts. 
Baltimore,  for  example,  has  had  some  five  or  six  gas 
companies,  which  have  combined  into  one  company  with 
a  capital  of  $18,000,000.     It  is  estimated  that  the  plant 
could  be  duplicated  for  $8,000,000,  which  would  leave  a 
loss  to  the  city  of  $10,000,000.     That  which  is  true  of 

1  See  Author's  National  Ownership  of  Railways. 
»  Socialism  and  Social  Reform,  Ely,  p.  119. 


So        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

Baltimore  is  true  of  nearly  every  municipality.  What  a 
tremendous  loss  to  the  nation.  But  this  is  only  the  first 
loss.  Think  of  the  economy  which  would  be  effected 
through  municipal  ownership. 

The  reports  of  the  eleventh  census  show  that  the  742 
gas  works  in  this  country  expend  for  wages  $10,642,794 
and  for  materials  $14,037,087.  The  total  receipts  were 
$56,987,290.  Thus  more  than  one  half  the  receipts  went 
to  pay  interest  and  profits.  Socialism  would  add  this 
surplus  to  the  income  of  the  laborers. 

(4)  Electric-light,  Telephone,  and  Trolley  Companies. — 
These  also  illustrate  the  wastes  of  the  present  system. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  details  here ;  much  has  al- 
ready   been   written    upon    the    subject.      All    of    these 
monopolies  should  be  publicly  owned  and  publicly  oper- 
ated.   Under  public  ownership  there  would  be  economi- 
cal administration,  low  rates,  better  service,  and  higher 
remuneration   to   those   who   furnish    the   service, — the 
laborers.    The  natural  price  of  any  service  is  the  proper 
keep  of  those  who  render  the  service.     This  higher  re- 
muneration does  not  mean  an  increase  in  the  cost  of  the 

.  service,  but  rather,  that  the  millions  now  pocketed  by  idle 
shareholders  would  be  turned  into  the  pockets  of  the 
laborers.  Under  Socialism  the  remuneration  of  those 
engaged  in  such  occupations  would  be  equal  to  that 
which  they  could  earn  in  any  other  productive  field ; 
that  is,  a  day's  labor  in  any  like  grade  of  employment. 
The  rate  of  charges  would  be  fixed  to  cover  current  ex- 
penses, but  the  public  would  have  no  profit  to  pay  as 
to-day. 

(5)  Enforced  Idleness. — Enforced  idleness  is   another 
waste  due  directly  to  the  capitalist  system.      Statistics 
show  that  wage-workers  engaged  in  manufacturing  in- 
dustries, are  idle  one-tenth  of  the  working  days  of  the 
year.    This  enforced  idleness  of  one-tenth  of  the  working 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  8 1 

time  is  equivalent  to  nearly  two  millions  idle  the  whole 
year  through.  Now  as  one  man  creates  annually  about 
$900  worth  of  wealth,  this  loss  of  one-tenth  of  the  work- 
ing time,  equal  to  two  millions  men,  means  a  loss  to  so- 
ciety of  $1,800,000,000.  To  this  we  must  add  those  who 
are  absolutely  idle — from  one  to  two  millions — and  we 
have  an  enormous  waste  of  from  three  to  four  billions 
of  dollars  a  year.  If  we  include  the  enforced  idleness 
in  mining  and  agriculture  we  have  a  sum  truly  prodig- 
ious. All  this  waste  is  the  result  of  the  planlessness  of 
private  production.  It  cannot  be  remedied  so  long  as 
industry  proceeds  in  a  haphazard  and  chaotic  manner. 
Socialism  would  prevent  this  waste  by  removing  the 
cause.  It  would  organize  industry  and  utilize  all  the 
forces  of  society  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people. 

(6)  Strikes  and  Lockouts. — The  number  of  strikes,  ac- 
cording to  official  reports,  from  January  i,  1881,  to 
June  30,  1894,  was  14,389.  The  establishments  involved 
were  69,166.  The  loss  of  the  employees  amounted  to 
$163,807,657.  The  assistance  rendered  them  by  labor 
organizations  amounted  to  $10,914,406,  the  loss  to  em- 
ployers aggregated  $82,589,786. 

The  number  of  establishments  involved  in  lockouts 
during  this  period  was  6,067.  The  wage  loss  to  em- 
ployees was  $26,685,516.  The  assistance  rendered  by 
labor  organizations  was  $2,524,298,  and  the  total  loss  to 
employers  amounted  to  $12,235,451. 

This  by  no  means  represents  the  total  loss.  Indus- 
tries are  so  interlaced  and  interdependent  that  when  one 
suffers  all  suffer.  If  laborers  receive  no  wages,  their 
consumption  is  checked,  and  that  in  turn  checks  produc- 
tion elsewhere.  Frequently  the  whole  business  of  a 
community  is  paralyzed  by  a  strike  or  a  lockout.  Deal- 
ers cannot  sell  their  goods,  and  so  can  place  no  new 
orders,  and  thus,  factories,  perhaps  thousands  of  miles 


82        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

distant,  are  obliged  to  discharge  employees,  who 
are  changed  from  producers,  and  consequently  consum- 
ers, into  non-consumers,  and  these  effect  others,  and  so 
the  evil  becomes  far  reaching  and  disastrous.  All  of  this 
waste  is  necessitated  by  the  capitalist  system ;  Socialism 
would  render  it  impossible. 

(7)  Needless  Charity. — Charity,  which  is  necessitated 
by  the  present  order,  is  another  waste.  Mr.  Sprague 
estimates  that  this  waste  amounts  to  $80,000,000  an- 
nually, or  $253,591.05  for  every  secular  day  in  the  year. 
These  millions  are  dispersed  every  year  to  alleviate  the 
evils  which  result  from  our  cut-throat  system  of  com- 
petition. Would  it  not  be  better  to  try  to  remove  the 
cause  of  pauperism  than  to  simply  endeavor  to  mitigate 
its  effects  ?  The  average  man,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  only 
interested  in  the  methods  of  charity ;  he  never  stops  to 
consider  the  advisability  of  rendering  it  unnecessary. 
You  can  interest  him  in  schemes  for  relieving  poverty, 
but  not  in  preventing  it.  Why  is  this  ?  Is  it  possible  that 
those  able  to  assist  in  relieving  pauperism,  recognize  the 
fact  that  it  is  due  to  the  system  which  grants  them  special 
privileges,  and  that  to  remove  the  cause  would  be  to 
deprive  themselves  of  certain  advantages  ?  At  any  rate, 
capitalism  only  wishes  to  deal  with  effects,  and  this  it  is 
often  anxious  to  do,  as  though  it  recognized  its  own 
responsibility  and  desired,  at  least,  to  furnish  the  linen 
and  salve  for  the  wounds  which  it  inflicts.  But  it  is  not 
enough  merely  to  mitigate  evils  for  which  one  is  re- 
sponsible. Capitalism  cannot  thus  escape.  Men  have 
always  been  disposed  to  be  merciful  toward  those  upon 
whom  they  thrive.  In  fact,  capitalism  could  not  exist 
were  it  not  disposed,  in  some  measure,  to  relieve  the 
effects  of  its  own  workings.  It  is  the  cause  of  all  the 
social  ills  from  which  we  suffer.  It  is  much  easier  for 
it  to  throw  a  few  crumbs  to  those  whom  it  has  pauper- 


ADVANTAGES  Of  SOCIALISM.  83 

ized  than  to  give  up  the  special  privileges  which  cause 
the  need  of  charity.  The  capitalist  will  do  anything  and 
everything  but  get  off  the  laborer's  back. 

The  capitalist  class  robs  the  laborers  of  billions  upon 
billions  of  dollars  and  then  returns  a  few  paltry  millions, 
which,  in  itself,  is  an  insult  to  labor,  inasmuch  as  it  is  not 
returned  with  apologies  but  dribbled  back  as  a  gift — an 
act  of  charity.  Such  charity  bears  a  close  analogy  to  the  old 
time  brigands  who  robbed  and  murdered  the  wayfarers, 
and  then  gave  a  small  portion  of  the  plunder  in  pay- 
ment for  masses  for  the  souls  of  the  departed.  These 
driblets  given  by  capitalists  to  found  libraries,  museums, 
colleges,  etc.,  although  desirable,  still  are  available  to 
but  a  few  of  the  people.  Thousands  are  too  poor  to  even 
send  their  children  to  school  and  to  all  such,  free  libraries 
are  but  a  mockery.  The  first  requisite  to  enable  all  to 
enjoy  these  blessings  is  the  material  needs  of  life.  These 
pre-requisites  the  people  are  now  deprived  of.  Socialism 
would  not  only  furnish  the  people  with  these  desirable 
institutions,  but  would  make  them  available  by  securing 
to  all  the  physical  basis  of  life. 

The  laborers,  then,  do  not  ask  for  charity,  but  for 
justice.  Grant  them  this  and  the  need  for  charity  will 
be  removed.  Socialism,  by  granting  justice,  will  remove 
pauperism,  and  consequently,  the  need  for  charity,  and 
so  save  to  society  this  vast  expenditure. 

(8)  Idle  Consumption. — Another  great  waste  is  idle 
consumption ;  that  is,  the  consumption  of  the  idle  class, 
not  only  of  luxuries  but  of  necessaries.  This  class  are 
purely  parasites,  simply  drones  in  the  hive.  What  they 
consume  is  entirely  wasted  so  far  as  the  community  is 
concerned.  But  the  waste  is  not  confined  to  the  per- 
sonal consumption  of  this  class.  They  retain  large 
armies  of  domestic  servants  and  attendants  who  must 
be  housed,  fed,  and  clothed.  Then  there  are  thousands 


84      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

engaged  in  the  production  of  luxuries  especially  for  this 
idle  class.  All  such  represent  so  much  waste.  The  con- 
sumption of  these  people,  who  but  minister  to  the  idlers 
has  the  same  economic  effect  as  the  consumption  of  the 
useless  class  itself.  Wealth  is  destroyed  for  which  no 
equivalent  is  given. 

The  waste  of  labor  and  capital  connected  with  the 
present  order  of  production  and  distribution,  also  the 
waste  involved  in  useless  vocations,  etc.,  has  already 
been  mentioned,  thus  saving  the  need  of  repetition  in 
this  connection.  There  are  also  wastes  from  commercial 
crises,  fraudulent  adulterations,  needless  litigation,  use- 
less police  and  prisons,  needless  theft  and  embezzlement, 
intemperance,  insufficiency  and  want  of  adaptation  of 
labor,  etc.,  but  as  these  points  are  considered  elsewhere 
it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  them  here.  I  simply  call 
attention  to  them  that  the  wastes  involved  may  be  in- 
cluded in  the  present  list. 

All  of  these  wastes  are  inherent  in  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem, and  the  loss  can  only  be  saved  to  society  by  a 
scientific  organization  of  industry.  Surely  a  more  irra- 
tional system  than  this,  which  necessitates  such  prodig- 
ious wastes,  is  difficult  to  conceive.  Competition  and 
waste  are  convertible  terms.  One  of  the  most  important 
advantages  of  Socialism  is  its  economy  in  wealth  pro- 
duction and  distribution. 

5.    ELEVATION  OF  WOMEN. 

Although  Socialism  is  primarily  an  economic  proposi- 
tion, its  effect  upon  woman  and  the  home  life  is  note- 
worthy. That  Socialism  would  greatly  elevate  woman 
is  generally  admitted  by  all.  Under  the  new  regime, 
woman  would  be  placed  economically  upon  an  equal 
footing  with  man.  I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  she  would 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  85 

simply  have  the  door  to  industrial  employment  opened 
to  her.  This,  in  a  large  measure,  has  been  attained  al- 
ready, and  with  the  most  deplorable  results. 

The  labor  of  woman  to-day  in  industrial  pursuits, 
means  the  total  destruction  of  the  family  life  of  the  work- 
ingman.  The  total  number  of  women  engaged  in  occu- 
pations in  1890  was  3,712,144,  an  increase  of  2,066,956 
or  125.6  per  cent,  since  1870.  Of  this  number  3,102,606 
were  wage  workers.  Women  thus  engaged  are  not  free 
from  household  duties,  it  simply  adds  a  new  burden  to 
her  weary  lot.  She  is  torn  from  her  family  of  little  ones, 
who,  perhaps,  are  entrusted  to  strange  hands,  or  left  to 
run  in  the  streets,  while  she  seeks  the  factory  to  aid  the 
husband  in  securing  the  daily  bread.  In  place  of  the 
family  life  thus  destroyed,  the  apologists  of  the  present 
order  are  pointing  to  the  day-nurseries  as  compensatory 
institutions,  which,  in  reality,  are  only  devised  for  the 
purpose  of  accelerating  the  separating  of  mothers  from 
their  babes.  Do  not  be  deceived  by  such  miserable 
substitutes.  The  Socialists  demand  the  abolition  of  the 
system  that  makes  it  necessary  for  the  wife  to  aid  the 
husband  in  eking  out  an  existence.  This  condition  of 
the  family  is  begotten  of  capitalism.  The  introduction 
of  machinery  has  eliminated  the  necessity  of  strength 
and  skill,  thus  opening  the  way  for  the  employment  of 
women  and  children,  and  so  making  it  possible  for  them 
to  earn  their  own  subsistence.  This  done,  and  the  wages 
of  the  man  could  be  safely  reduced  to  the  level  of  his 
own  keeping  (formerly  he  had  to  get  wages  sufficient  to 
support  the  whole  family,  otherwise  he  could  not  pro- 
pagate himself  and  raise  up  new  labor-power  for  capital- 
ist use),  and  thus  compel  women  and  children  to  turn 
themselves  into  instruments  of  exploitation.  This  has 
given  the  capitalist  an  added  advantage  by  the  increase 
of  labor-power  in  a  market  already  overstocked.  Thus 


86        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

our  present  system  destroys  the  home,  the  safeguard  of 
purity  and  righteousness. 

Says  Prof.  Commons :  "  To-day,  among  the  pooi  -st 
classes,  home  is  a  travesty.  The  mother  must  work  to 
compensate  the  father's  enforced  idleness  and  low  pay, 
and  her  children  come  into  the  world  with  feeble  bodies, 
broken  nerves,  and  moral  impotence.  It  has  been  said 
that  to  educate  a  child  you  must  begin  with  his  great- 
grandfather. More  to  the  point  is  it  that  if  you  would 
have  a  people  intelligent,  moral,  and  Christian,  you  must 
relieve  their  mothers  and  grandmothers  from  poverty 
and  excessive  toil.  The  home  is  the  place  where,  most 
of  all,  environment  tells.  Overwork  for  women  and 
children  is  the  physical  basis  for  crime,  intemperance, 
and  vice.  The  youth,  the  man,  or  the  woman  who  has 
grown  up  in  a  home — or  the  mockery  of  a  home — such 
as  this,  can  never  escape  from  the  prison  of  his  own 
faltering  body."  1 

Socialists  do  not  care  to  heighten  the  competition  in 
the  economic  field ;  it  is  severe  enough  already.  What 
they  desire  is -not  free  competition  among  the  sexes,  but 
special  vocations  for  the  sexes.  Women  are  so  consti- 
tuted that  certain  employments  are  injurious  to  them. 
What  we  want  is  suitable  employment  for  women,  and 
reward  according  to  results.  This  is  truly  Utopian  under 
the  present  system.  That  women  should  compete  with 
men,  in  utter  disregard. of  physiological  facts,  and  be 
obliged  to  accept  less  pay  for  equal  services  rendered, 
is  part  and  parcel  of  our  competitive  system.  But  under 
Socialism  women  may  become  public  functionaries  on 
an  equal  footing  with  men.  This  would  secure  to  them 
complete  emancipation  and  independence. 

Economic  independence  and  freedom  is  the  basis  of 

1  Social  Reform  and  the  Church,  Commons,  p.  39. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  87 

all  independence  and  freedom.  Such  liberty  would  de- 
stroy in  toto  the  matrimonial  market.  Marriage  would 
cease  to  be  a  mere  institution  for  the  support  or  woman. 
By  securing  to  woman  the  opportunity  of  earning  her 
own  living,  by  honorable,  pleasant,  and  fitting  employ- 
ment, you  would  make  of  husband  and  wife  loving 
equals. 

Socialists,  however,  do  not  expect  all  women,  or  even 
a  majority,  to  earn  their  own  living.  What  they  want 
is  to  endow  women  with  the  potentiality  of  economic 
independence  of  man.  This  power,  which  may  be  real- 
ized at  any  time,  would  check  much  of  the  overbearing- 
ness  and  despotism  often  manifested  by  the  "  lords  of 
creation."  Economic  equality  between  husband  and 
wife  would  work  a  transformation  in  the  family.  The  ad- 
vantages which  Socialism  would  bring  to  women  are 
almost  inestimable.  Surely  Socialism  would  make  for 
the  elevation  of  woman. 

-   6.  PROPER  CARE  AND  TRAINING  OF  CHILDREN. 

There  are  thousands  upon  thousands  of  children 
to-day  robbed  of  the  bright  days  of  childhood,  simply 
because  employers  can  make  money  out  of  them.  They 
must  become  bread-winners.  The  income  of  the 
parents  is  insufficient  to  keep  them  at  school,  so  they 
must  be  withdrawn  from  the  school  and  sent  to  the  fac- 
tory. It  does  but  little  good  to  pass  laws  prohibiting 
child  labor.  So  long  as  child  labor  is  beneficial  to  both 
capitalist  and  parents,  they  will  conspire  to  evade  the 
law.  About  the  only  saying  of  Christ  that  the  capitalist 
finds  suitable  to  his  needs  is,  "  Suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  me."  This  he  is  not  loath  to  put  into  prac- 
tice. 

Under  Socialism  children  would  not  be  compelled  to 


88        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

go  to  work  to  earn  a  livelihood,  and  help  eke  out  the 
existence  of  the  family.  In  New  York  City  alone  there 
are  100,000  boys  and  girls  under  sixteen  years  of  age 
earning  their  own  living.  There  are  also  100,000  be- 
tween ten  and  fifteen  years  of  age  roaming  the  streets  of 
the  city  neither  going  to  school  nor  engaged  in  labor. 
Mr.  Lucien  Sanial  estimates  that  throughout  the  United 
States  the  number  of  children  and  youth  actually  em- 
ployed for  a  more  or  less  extended  portion  of  the  year 
in  mean,  hard,  and  brain-stunting  labor  cannot  be  less 
and  is  probably  more  than  5,000,000.  In  the  United 
States  poverty  deprives  several  millions  of  children  of 
the  opportunity  of  attending  school. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  our  present  system  is 
hostile  to  popular  education,  and  it  furnishes  conditions 
favorable  only  to  the  eductation  of  the  few.  Socialism 
would  make  compulsory  education  effective ;  it  would 
remove  the  incentive  to  deprive  children  of  instruction. 

Our  present  institutions  of  learning  are  commendable, 
but  they  are  not  available  to  the  very  class  we  wish  to 
help.  The  fault,  however,  is  not  in  the  institutions  them- 
selves, but  in  our  economic  system,  which,  although  it 
secures  free  schools,  deprives  the  poor  of  the  opportun- 
ity of  utilizing  them.  Children,  to  avail  themselves  of 
free  schooling,  must  have  secured  to  them  the  physical 
basis  of  life.  Socialism  would  secure  to  them  this  basis 
by  giving  to  the  head  of  the  family  sufficient  income  so 
that  his  children  would  not  be  obliged  to  resort  to  the 
factory  to  earn  their  living.  Not  only  does  Socialism 
demand  the  education  of  the  children,  but  it  proposes 
to  make  this  demand  possible  by  public  assistance,  in 
means,  clothing,  books,  etc.,  wherever  necessary.  It  is 
nothing  but  mockery  to  the  poor  to  talk  to  them  about 
free  education  unless  you  first  make  it  accessible.  Such 
platitudes  are  as  absurd  as  it  would  be  for  a  city  council 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  89 

to  pass  a  resolution  granting  to  the  poor  of  the  muni- 
cipality a  good  Thanksgiving  dinner,  and  then  making 
no  provision  for  its  realization.  Socialism  would  not 
only  secure  to  every  child  an  education,  but  it  would 
secure  to  the  adult  ample  leisure  for  the  cultivation  of 
those  tastes  which  his  training  had  awakened.  Were  all 
the  able-bodied  to  engage  in  useful  labor,  two  or  three 
hours  a  day  would  suffice  to  satisfy  all  rational  wants. 

Under  Socialism  children  would  grow  up  as  nature 
intended,  and  completely  develop  all  their  powers,  physi- 
cal, intellectual,  and  moral.  The  sacredness  of  their 
childhood  would  be  preserved,  and  their  lives  filled  with 
joy  and  blessedness.  They  would  become  rounded  out 
into  complete  men  and  women. 

7.  EFFICIENT  DIRECTORS. 

This  advantage  of  Socialism  cannot  easily  be  over- 
estimated. Socialism  would  solve  the  problem  of 
efficient  directors  of  industry.  Under  Socialism  all  ap- 
pointments would  be  made  from  below.  Thus  in  the 
boot  and  shoe  department,  each  branch,  the  heelers,  tap- 
pers, etc.,  would  elect  their  own  foreman,  and  these 
foremen  would  elect  the  superintendent.  This  method 
would  insure  capable  leaders.  The  men  of  each  branch 
are  better  fitted  to  select  their  director  than  anyone  else, 
because  they  know  the  qualifications  of  their  fellows  and 
also  the  duties  they*  are  to  perform.  When  appoint- 
ments are  made  from  above  both  of  these  requisites  are 
often  lacking.  That  the  best  men  would  be  selected  is 
evident  from  the.  fact  that  it  would  be  directly  to  the  in- 
terest of  all  to  have  efficient  directors.  The  individual 
income  would  depend  upon  the  social  product,  so  they 
would  be  interested  in  securing  the  most  capable  leaders 
that  their  labor  might  be  directed  to  the  best  advantage. 


90        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

If  a  man  should  be  placed  at  the  head  of  a  certain  de- 
partment and  it  should  be  found  out  that  he  was  not 
capable  of  filling  the  position,  *it  would  make  no  differ- 
ence how  popular  he  might  be,  the  very  fact  that  the  in- 
come of  each  decreased  on  account  of  his  inefficiency 
would  be  sufficient  reason  for  his  recall.  Under  Social- 
ism the  directors  would  hold  office  only  so  long  as  the 
interests  of  their  constituents  were  subserved.  We  need 
but  look  at  trades-unions  to  see  the  working  of  this  prin- 
ciple. The  laborers  recognize  that  some  men  are  more 
capable  than  others,  and  they  select  these  and  place  their 
collective  interests  in  their  hands.  All  labor  organiza- 
tions proceed  upon  the  two  principles :  first,  that  the  di- 
rection of  social  affairs  belongs  to  the  capable,  and 
second,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all  citizens  to  assist  in  that 
direction  by  intelligent  co-operation.  When  these 
natural  leaders  and  guides  are  found  the  laborers  trust 
them  implicitly,  and  they  are  retained  as  long  as  they 
prove  true.  One  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  laborers 
is  loyalty  to  leaders.  But  these  leaders  cannot,  how- 
ever, become  autocratic,  because  strict  responsibility  is 
the  very  essence  of  the  system.  The  study  of  the  work- 
ings of  these  organizations  will  reveal  to  us  the  model 
of  the  Socialist  Republic. 

The  laborers  have  already  solved  the  problem  of  se- 
curing efficient  directors.  The  principle  which  they  have 
worked  out  will,  undoubtedly,  constitute  the  basis  of  the 
new  order.  It  is  the  only  way  of  securing  ability  at  the 
head  of  affairs.  There  is  scarcely  an  industry  to-day  in 
which  the  chief  is  not  inferior  to  some,  at  least,  of  his 
subordinates.  Under  Socialism  ability  would  forge  to 
the  front. 


ADVANTAGES  Of  SOCIALISM. 


8.  SOLUTION  OF  THE  MONETARY  QUESTION. 

The  solution  of  this  vexed  question  would  be  no  slight 
advantage  to  society.  Socialism  would  solve  this  enigma 
by  simply  abolishing  it.  Under  Socialism  money — gold, 
silver,  and  their  representatives — would  no  longer  ex- 
ist. 

Says  Dr.  Schaffle :  "  There  is  certainly  no  doubt  that 
within  the  unified,  closed,  national  economy  of  the  Social- 
ists the  present  use  of  metallic  money  would  find  .no 
place,  and  serve  no  purpose." 

Under  the  present  system  of  commodity  production, 
money  is  a  merchandise,  and  must  have  intrinsic  value. 
But  under  Socialism  vouchers  for  labor  performed  would 
take  the  place  of  metallic  money. 

There  are  many  who  propose  adopting  this  prin- 
ciple of  Socialism,  and  applying  it  to  the  present 
conditions.  This  is  illogical.  One  might  as  well  pro- 
pose putting  on  the  roof  of  a  house  before  the  frame  is 
erected.  The  vouchers  or  labor-checks  cannot  come  into 
use  until  the  establishment  of  the  Socialist  Common- 
wealth. Under  the  present  system  it  would  be  absurd  for 
the  government  to  issue  vouchers  for  labor  performed, 
for  the  reason  that  commodities  do  not  belong  to  the 
government  but  to  private  individuals.  Such  notes 
would  be  purely  fiat.  But  under  Socialism,  when 
the  State  is  the  sole  producer,  there  would  be 
something  behind  the  notes  with  which  to  re- 
deem them.  The  notes  would  be  issued  against  the 
wares  produced,  and  for  every  note  issued  there 
would  be  wealth  behind  it.  These  vouchers,  order  notes, 
or  labor  certificates,  would  be  given  by  society  in  return 
for  labor  performed,  and  would  represent  the  full  amount 
of  service  rendered.  For  every  day's  labor  a  certificate 


92       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

would  be  issued  against  the  wealth  created,  which  would 
enable  the  laborer  to  exchange  the  note  for  the  product, 
or  for  any  other  commodity  containing  a  like  amount  of 
labor-time.  He  would  thus  receive  the  full  value  of  his 
toil.  But  under  the  present  system  the  product  goes  to 
the  capitalist,  who,  in  turn,  pays  to  the  worker  order 
notes  in  the  form  of  money,  only  on  a  portion  of  the 
commodities  which  he  has  produced.  He  is  thus  en- 
abled to  purchase  but  a  part  of  the  wealth  he  has  created. 
Under  Socialism,  as  we  have  seen,  the  order  notes  would 
be  equal  to  the  whole  product,  thus  securing  to  the 
laborer  the  full  return  for  his  labor  expended. 

Socialism  would  render  a  great  service  to  society  by 
solving  the  monetary  question.  It  has  engrossed  public 
attention  for  years,  and  will  continue  to  puzzle  the  minds 
of  statesmen  so  long  as  capitalism  exists.  There  un- 
doubtedly will  be  many  efforts  at  revision,  but  no  mone- 
tary system  is  possible  that  will  not  cause  injustice  so 
long  as  the  present  methods  of  production  continue.  The 
question,  then,  can  never  be  finally  settled  under  the 
present  system.  Society  must  look  to  Socialism  for  a  so- 
lution of  the  monetary  question. 

9.  ABOLITION  OF  TAXATION. 

This,  surely,  is  no  small  advantage  which  Socialism 
would  bring.  Scarcely  anything  connected  with  our 
present  order  of  society  is  open  to  greater  criticism.  For 
what  can  be  more  demoralizing  than  our  system  of  taxa- 
tion. The  whole  system  is  abominable.  It  results  in 
wholesale  prevarication  and  dishonesty.  Its  effects  upon 
public  and  private  morals  is  disastrous. 

Socialism  would  remove  these  evils  by  abolishing  the 
system.  There  would  be  no  taxes  to  pay,  and  conse- 
quently none  to  evade.  The  Socialist  State  would  de- 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  93 

rive  its  revenues  from  rent  of  land  used  by  citizens  for 
private  purposes  and  such  a  percentage  added  to  the 
cost  of  wares  as  would  be  necessary  to  meet  the  social 
needs.  Each  would  have  to  bear  his  share  of  the  public 
expenditures  and  none  could  evade,  as  at  present,  his 
just  contribution.  Thus  the  vast  army  of  assessors  and 
collectors  could  be  dispensed  with,  and  set  at  some  use- 
ful employment.  This  is  but  another  of  the  numerous 
economies  of  Socialism. 

10.  SIMPLIFICATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

That  Socialism  would  greatly  simplify  government  no 
well-informed  person  will  deny.  Under  Socialism  gov- 
ernment would  be  purely  democratic.  The  directors  of 
affairs,  elected  by  the  people,  would  simply  be  the  agents 
of  society  having  the  three  functions  of  statistican,  man- 
ager, and  arbitrator.  Socialism  is  not  governmentalism 
— the  turning  of  things  over  to  the  State.  What  Social- 
ists propose  is,  that  the  people  themselves,  democrati- 
cally organized,  shall  manage  their  own  affairs.  This 
industrial  democracy  would  greatly  simplify  legislation. 
What  is  the  nature  of  legislation  to-day  ?  If  you  ex- 
amine our  statute  books  you  will  find  that  nine-tenths  of 
the  legislation  concerns  private  property  as  represented 
by  instruments  of  production.  Look  at  the  laws  enacted 
at  any  session  of  our  legislatures  and  you  will  note  that 
they  deal  chiefly  with  private  interests.  Study  the  records 
of  our  courts  and  note  how  continually  the  railways  fig- 
ure in  lawsuits.  Now  compare  the  privately  owned  rail- 
ways with  the  publicly  owned  post-office.  The  postal 
law  is  simple  and  concise,  and  we  seldom  hear  of  a  law- 
suit connected  with  this  service.  We  see  by  this  com- 
parison how  public  ownership  would  simplify  govern- 
ment. The  abolition  of  the  private  ownership  in  the  in- 


94       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

struments  of  production  would  remove  all  these  laws 
from  our  records. 

Private  ownership  of  capital  is  not  only  the  chief  cause 
of  legislation,  but  also  of  litigation.  Abolish  private 
capital  and  most  of  the  litigation  of  the  courts  would 
disappear.  Under  Socialism  law-making  would  be  re- 
duced to  a  minimum.  The  chief  cause  of  the  endless 
laws  under  which  we  groan  to-day  is  individualism, — the 
rule  of  private  employers  and  private  proprietors. 

Says  Mr.  Stephen  Maybell :  "  As  ninety-nine  per  cent, 
of  our  laws  are  the  direct  product  of  individualism,  to 
protect  it  directly  and  indirectly  in  its  unnatural  posses- 
sions, and  to  preserve  its  order,  and  to  prevent  and  to 
decide  the  conflicts  and  bitter  antagonisms  arising 
continually  because  of  the  endless  confusion  which  it 
causes,  it  is  plain  to  be  perceived  that  with  an  end  of  the 
reign  of  individualism  there  would  be  a  corresponding 
end  of  the  multitudinous  laws  which  it  entails;  there 
would  be  a  simplification  of  many  laws  into  single  laws, 
and  simple  justice  would  prevail  where  now  complexity 
and  confusion  confound.  If  nationalism  were  to  take  the 
place  of  our  millions  of  petty  personal  proprietors  and 
employers,  their  millions  of  petty  restrictions  and  so- 
called  legal  decrees  would  cease,  and  their  union  of  in- 
terests bring  about  a  union  or  singleization  of  laws."  l 

May  the  day  hasten  when  the  simple,  honest  adminis- 
tration which  Socialism  will  inaugurate  shall  be  realized. 

n.  BENEFITS  TO  CAPITALISTS. 

Socialism  should  not  be  looked  upon  unfavorably  by 
the  average  capitalist.  Although  as  a  class  the  capital- 
ists exploit  labor  out  of  three-fourths  of  the  wealth  it 

i  Civilization  Civilized,  Maybell,  p.  33. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  95 

creates,  still  the  competitive  scramble  of  the  capitalists 
for  the  spoil  necessarily  results  in  the  downfall  of  the 
small  capitalists.  This  perpetual  warfare  among  capital- 
ists to  see  who  shall  get  the  largest  share  of  the  wealth 
which  they  compel  the  laborers  to  give  up  means  the 
bankruptcy  of  the  majority.  Only  a  few  are  able  to  re- 
tain their  gain.  That  which  the  small  exploiter  appro- 
priates soon  finds  its  way  into  the  hands  of  the  large 
capitalist.  As  this  is  the  inevitable  result  of  our  present 
system,  surely  the  average  capitalist  ought  to  welcome 
Socialism  as  a  deliverer.  It  would  bring  to  thousands  of 
them  a  much  needed  relief.  The  mental  suffering  of 
many  of  the  capitalist  class  is  continually  underesti- 
mated. Think  of  the  number  of  suicides  committed  by 
members  of  this  class  every  year,  and  then  the  mental 
agony  which  they  must  have  suffered  before  being  driven 
to  seek  relief  by  self-destruction.  Nine-tenths  of  all 
business  men  fail  !  Do  you  think  there  is  no  mental 
suffering  connected  with  such  anxiety  ?  To  be  sure, 
there  are  exceptions.  Sometimes  men  engage  in  busi- 
ness with  the  intention  of  failing  and  beating  their  credi- 
tors. But  in  such  instances  the  suffering  is  not  pre- 
vented, but  simply  transferred  to  the  creditors.  Social- 
ism would  save  all  this  needless  wear  and  tear  of  body  and 
mind.  It  would  save  the  capitalist  from  the  harrowing  cares 
and  anxieties  which  now  beset  him,  and  the  constant 
fear  that  he  may  lose  his  fortune, — a  fear  often  realized 
in  the  heartless  struggle  of  competitive  industry.  Social- 
ism would  guarantee  to  all  an  abundance.  Each  would 
have  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  needs,  and  what  more  could 
he  ask  ?  If  one  has  a  thousand  hats  he  can  only  wear 
one  at  a  time.  There  would  be  no  millionaires  under 
Socialism  and  no  one  would  care  to  be  immensely  rich, 
for  they  could  not  capitalize  their  wealth  and  make  it  a 
source  of  unearned  income.  When  persons  can  only 


96        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

accumulate  a  superfluity  of  commodities,  the  desire  for 
excessive  accumulation  will  be  negatived.  Each  will 
have  enough  for  the  fullest  satisfaction  of  his  wants,  and 
after  all,  is  this  not  the  end  of  wealth  production  ? 
When  the  material  needs  are  thus  easily  and  fully  met, 
then  all  would  have  time  and  opportunity  to  cultivate 
their  higher  faculties. 

The  relief  which  Socialism  would  bring  to  the  captains 
of  industry,  from  the  worries,  anxieties,  and  failures  of 
the  competitive  system,  is  no  small  item. 

Another  advantage  which  Socialism  would  secure  to 
this  class,  is  freedom  from  personal  danger.  Thousands 
of  the  rich  live  in  constant  fear  of  their  lives.  They 
know  not  at  what  moment  they  may  be  struck  down  by 
some  one  who  has  been  embittered  by  unjust  social  con- 
ditions. You  can  scarcely  take  up  a  daily  paper  without 
reading  of  such  incidents.  Socialism  would  eliminate  all 
such  fear  by  removing  the  cause — poverty. 

Again,  Socialism  would  secure  to  the  members  of  this 
class  freedom  from  personal  annoyance.  The  man  of 
means  is  perpetually  beset  by  solicitors  and  beggars  from 
whom  there  is  no  escape.  If  he  take  the  wings  of  the 
morning  and  fly  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  be- 
hold, even  there,  the  solicitor  and  beggar  await  him. 
These  persons,  however,  are  not  blameworthy ;  they  are 
the  legitimate  products  of  our  present  system,  and  have 
generally  become. such  through  no  fault  of  their  own. 
Socialism  would  remove  all  such  annoyances  by  remov- 
ing the  cause. 

Once  more,  Socialism  would  save  this  class -from  the 
many  dangers  that  beset  it.  In  the  words  of  Timothy, 
"  They  that  will  be  rich  fall  into  temptations  and  a  snare 
and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts  which  drown  men 
in  destruction  and  perdition/'  Truly,  "  the  love  of 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  97 

iiianey  is  the  root  of  all  evil."     Socialism  would  save 
men  from  this  growing  evil. 

(Such  are  a  few  of  the  blessings  which  Socialism  would 
bring  to  this  class.  Why  the  average  capitalist  should 
wish  a  continuance  of  this  barbaric  struggle  for  existence 
is  beyond  comprehension,  and  can  only  be  accounted 
for  by  his  prejudice  against  and  ignorance  of  Socialism. 

12.  BENEFITS  TO  LABORERS. 

The  benefits  which  Socialism  would  bring  to  laborers 
are  almost  too  numerous  to  mention.  I  can  only  hope, 
in  this  section,  to  mention  a  few  of  the  more  important 
advantages  that  have  not  been  dwelt  upon  elsewhere. 

One  evident  advantage  which  Socialism  would  bring 
is  security  in  employment.  The  insecurity  and  uncer- 
tainty of  employment  is  one  of.  the  greatest  curses  of  our 
present  system  of  industry.  The  rapid  increase  of  new 
mechanical  appliances  has  created  an  industrial  reserve 
army  which  ever  serves  to  keep  wages  down  to  the  point 
of  merest  necessities.  This  reserve  army  is  a  necessary 
result  of  the  present  industrial  system.  At  no  time  is  the 
laborer  sure  of  his  livelihood;  he  is  liable,  without  a 
moment's  notice  to  be  thrown  out  upon  the  street  and 
himself  and  his  family  reduced  to  beggary  or  starvation. 
Under  Socialism  there  would  be  no  problem  of  the  un- 
employed. It  would  be  the  business  of  the  State  to  look 
out  for  her  own.  It  is  a  recognized  principle  even  to-day 
that  one  of  the  first  duties  of  the  State  is  to  protect  the 
lives  of  its  citizens.  Logically,  this  principle  implies 
more  than  simple  protection  from  violence.  Man's  life 
is  endangered  fully  as  much,  if  not  more,  upon  the  eco- 
nomic side.  A  full  application  of  this  principle  would 
protect  men  from  hunger,  cold,  and  thirst,  as  well  as 
from  poison,  knife,  and  bullet.  If  society  is  to  protect  in- 


98        PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

dividuals  on  but  one  side  it  might  better  be  the  economic 
than  the  physical.  Give  a  man  a  good  revolver  and  he 
can  more  easily  protect  himself  and  family  against  physi- 
cal violence  than  he  can  against  economic  want.  Not  a 
day  passes  but  that  the  number  who  perish  in  the  eco- 
nomic struggle  far  surpasses  those  who  fall  as  the  result 
of  personal  violence.  The  duty  of  society,  then,  in  guar- 
anteeing the  life  of  the  citizens,  is  to  secure  to  each  and 
every  member  the  opportunity  to  earn  a  livelihood.  If 
a  man  has  a  right  to  life  he  has  a  right  to  the  opportunity 
to  earn  a  livelihood.  This  right  can  only  be  secured  to 
the  citizen  when  society  owns  the  means  of  production. 
Society  has  not  thus  far  fulfilled  its  recognized  duty  of 
safeguarding  the  lives  of  its  members.  The  failure  to 
give  to  this  principle  an  economic,  as  well  as  a  judicial 
application,  has  resulted  in  poverty  and  degradation. 
Socialism  would  guarantee  to  all  the  basis  of  life.  So- 
ciety would  protect  its  members  economically  as  well  as 
physically. 

To-day  what  we  choose  to  call  civilization  divides  the 
industrial  army  into  two  classes,  the  "  over-worked " 
and  the  "  out  of  work."  The  former  are  kept  at  their 
post  until  they  nearly  drop  from  exhaustation ;  the  latter 
are  obliged  to  subsist  as  best  they  can  on  charitable 
doles.  The  members  of  these  two  classes  are  constantly 
changing,  with  the  result  of  the  loss  of  skill  which  in- 
evitably follows  the  cessation  of  industrial  activity.  As 
the  result  of  this  irrational  course  industrial  powers  are 
allowed  to  deteriorate  through  misuse.  Under  the  pres- 
ent system  we  can  never  hope  that  the  hours  of  labor 
will  be  so  reduced  that  the  whole  industrial  army  will  be 
employed,  although  the  productivity  of  labor  would  then 
be  greatly  increased.  Two  men  working  five  hours  each 
produce  more  than  one  man  working  ten  hours.  The 
shorter  the  labor  time  the  greater  the  intensity  of  labor. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SOCIALISM.  99 

But  while  the  total  product  would  be  larger,  the  share 
of  the  capitalist  would  be  less,  for  then  there  would  be 
two  to  live  instead  of  one.  It  is  more  profitable,  then, 
for  the  capitalist  to  work  one  man  excessively  than  to 
employ  two  at  shorter  hours.  For  this  reason  we  have 
the  anomaly  of  the  "  over-worked  "  side  by  side  with  that 
of  the  "  out  of  work."  Socialism  would  solve  this 
anomaly  by  reducing  the  hours  of  labor  to  a  minimum, 
thus  giving  opportunity  to  all  to  earn  their  livelihood, 
and  needed  leisure  to  all  which  could  be  devoted  to  pleas- 
ure and  profit.  Are  not  these  advantages  worth  the 
laborers'  serious  attention  ? 

Laborers  now  combine  into  groups  for  the  production 
of  economic  goods,  but  the  production  is  carried  on  for 
the  sole  benefit  of  the  capitalist.  As  long  as  they  do 
this  and  compete  with  each  other  for  the  privilege  of 
doing  it,  they  will  remain  simply  a  part  of  the  machinery 
for  the  production  of  private  profits.  What  laborers 
need  to  see  is  that  their  social  groups  should  produce 
wares  for  their  own  use  instead  of  profits  for  an  em- 
ployer. Labor  would  then  cease  to  be  a  mere  adjunct 
of  capital, — a  part  of  the  machinery  of  competing  firms, 
— and  would  become  organized  for  the  purpose  of  sup- 
plying its  own  needs,  and  so  rendering  demand  and  sup- 
ply commensurate.  Socialism  offers  laborers  the  wealth 
of  plenty,  every  month  in  the  year,  in  place  of  this  exces- 
sive over-work  and  weariness  one  month,  and  idleness 
and  starvation  the  next. 

There  is  an  abundance,  even  to-day,  amidst  the  flag- 
rant misdirection  of  labor,  to  supply  every  legitimate 
want.  But  the  wealth  now  produced  is  not  one-sixth 
of  what  might  be  produced  were  labor  rightly  directed, 
and  the  wastes  of  the  present  order  eliminated.  Arti- 
ficial famines  are  the  result  of  misdirected  effort,  and 
would  entirely  disappear  under  Socialism.  This  idea1 


100      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

condition  will  be  realized  when  the  laborers  know  their 
own  power  and  become  practical  enough  to  cease  com- 
peting with  one  another  for  a  livelihood.  The  laborers 
would  then  constitute  society,  and  would  be  enabled  to 
regulate  their  labor  in  accordance  with  their  needs. 

Socialism  would  also  benefit  laborers  in  that  it  will 
render  the  conditions  under  which  they  labor  as  agree- 
able as  possible.  This  means  that  when  the  owners  are 
also  the  workers,  the  factories  will  be  arranged  according 
to  convenience  and  beauty,  and  all  disagreeable  smells, 
vapors,  smoke,  etc.,  will  be  eliminated.  The  factories 
will  be  well  lighted,  well  heated,  and  well  filled  with 
every  requisite  of  production.  Every  precaution  will  be 
taken  against  accidents,  safe  guards  and  appliances  in- 
troduced wherever  needed.  Something  is  done  in  this 
direction  to-day,  but  it  is  a  question  of  money  under  the 
present  system.  If  it  will  not  pay  workingmen  must  be 
sacrificed.  Dividends  are  more  important  than  human 
lives  !  If  the  owners  were  obliged  to  labor  in  the  fac- 
tories, is  there  any  question  but  that  these  needed  im- 
provements would  be  introduced  ?  And  when  the  own- 
ers and  laborers  are  united  in  the  same  persons,  will  not 
the  conditions  of  labor  be  improved  ?  To  ask  the  ques- 
tion is  to  answer  it.  Indeed  Socialism  would  surround 
labor  with  such  an  environment,  that  even  the  most 
arduous  tasks  would  become  agreeable  and  exhilarating. 
We  cannot  well  exaggerate  the  benefits  labor  will  derive 
in  this  direction.  Who  will  not  wish  to  labor  when  the 
hours  are  reduced  to  two  or  three,  and  the  conditions  are 
agreeable.  Labor  itself  would  then  become  a  recrea- 
tion. 

Socialism  would  thus  be  beneficial  to  laborers  econo- 
mically, socially,  and  morally.  It  would  lift  them  upon 
a  higher  plane,  and  organize  them  into  a  fraternity  to 


ADVANTAGES   OF  SOCIALISM.  IOI 

work  for  the  common  good.  Should  not  every  laborer 
consecrate  himself  to  the  realization  of  this  high  ideal  ? 

Many  political  economists  are  beginning  to  recognize 
the  validity  of  our  claims.  Says  Prof.  Ely :  "  Indeed,  if 
the  socialistic  ideas  could  be  carried  out,  panics  would 
be  impossible.  Every  new  invention,  every  advance, 
would  accrue  to  the  benfit  of  all.  The  greater  the  prod- 
uct, the  greater  the  value  of  each  day's  labor;  and  each 
one  would  receive  the  full  product  of  his  labor,  as  no 
capitalist  would  retain  a  part.  Capital  exists  and  in- 
creases, but  always  remains  common  property.  All  could 
live  better ;  since  many  fold  as  much  would  be  produced 
as  now.  At  present  the  chief  difficulty  appears  to  be  to 
avoid  over-production.  .  .  .  The  great  waste  of  com- 
petition, furthermore,  would  cease  with  the  competition 
itself.  .  .  .  This  saving  of  capital,  labor,  energy,  and 
talent  would  benefit  all  alike.  Strikes,  then  unheard  of 
save  as  a  reminiscence  of  the  past,  would  no  longer  be  a 
considerable  element  in  the  cost  of  production.  Business 
failures  would  cease  to  impoverish  the  widow  and  the 
orphan/'  l 

It  has  not  been  my  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  exhaust 
the  enumeration  of  the  advantages  of  the  Socialistic 
Commonwealth,  I  have  only  tried  to  bring  out  the  more 
important  advantages  which  would  accrue  to  society 
under  the  new  regime.  I  feel  confident,  however,  that 
sufficient  have  been  mentioned  to  convince  any  un- 
prejudiced mind  that  Socialism  is  immensely  superior 
to  our  present  cannibalistic  system  of  industry. 

»  French  and  German  Socialism,  Ely,  pp.  208,  209. 


* 

102      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


CHAPTER   V. 

EVIDENCES    OF   THE    MORAL   STRENGTH    OF    SOCIALISM. 

i.  ITS  SPIRIT  AND  AIM. 

THE  spirit  of  Socialism  is  fraternal  and  its  aim  is  to 
realize  the  brotherhood  of  man  in  all  the  relations  of  life. 
It  recognizes  the  solidarity  of  the  human  race,  and  would 
surround  men  with  an  economic  and  social  environment 
that  would  minister  to  that  ideal. 

While  Socialism  would  minister  to  such  self-love  as  is 
necessary  to  the  highest  endeavor,  it  would  completely 
destroy  selfishness,  the  essence  of  all  evil.  Those  who 
declare  competition  to  be  the  motive  force  of  civilization 
usually  confound  self-love  with  selfishness.  Self-love, 
which  consists  of  a  due  care  of  one's  own  interests  and 
well-being  and  which  is  perfectly  compatible  with  justice 
and  generosity,  is  not  only  desirable  but  legitimate.  This 
principle  has  always  been  a  motive  force  in .  progress, 
but  it  must  not  be  confounded  with  selfishness  which 
consists  of  an  inordinate  love  of  self, — a  regard  for  one's 
own  interests  regardless  of,  or  at  the  expense  of  the  in- 
terests of  others.  While  self-love  is  legitimate  and  may 
minister  to  man's  development  and  the  progress  of  the 
race,  selfishness,  the  essence  of  competition,  can  only 
retard  and  degrade.  When  self-love  becomes  selfishness 
it  defeats  its  own  end. 

Our  present  competitive  system  is  one  of  antagon- 
isms, in  which  the  interests  of  every  man  are  set  against 
the  interests  of  every  other  man.  Under  such  a  system 


MORAL  STRENGTH  OF  SOCIALISM.  103 

true  altruism  is  impossible.  There  is  scarcely  a  field  to- 
day where  selfish  interests,  begotten  by  a  selfish  system, 
do  not  dominate.  Just  as  long  as  it  is  for  man's  interest 
to  be  selfish  and  dishonest  we  need  expect  no  improve- 
ment. It  is  useless  to  lament  the  perfidy,  dishonor,  and 
selfishness  of  men  so  long  as  we  retain  a  false  organiza- 
tion of  society.  Surely  we  ought  not  to  expect  the  law 
of  love  to  be  practiced  in  the  environment  of  the  law  of 
strife.  How  can  we  expect  men  to  serve  their  fellows 
when  such  service  is  injurious  to  themselves  ?  Sermons 
will  not  extirpate  the  evil,  it  is  too  deep  seated,  it  in- 
heres in  the  system  itself.  We  may  preach  brotherly  love 
but  we  ought  not  to  be  so  foolish  as  to  expect  it  to  be 
practiced  under  the  present  order.  Private  gain  is  the 
cause  of  selfishness  and  so  long  as  men  can  advance  their 
own  interests  at  the  expense  of  others,  just  so  long  the 
root  of  the  evil  will  remain  untouched.  Selfishness  can- 
not be  eradicated  under  a  system  of  selfishness. 

Socialism  would  completely  destroy  selfishness  by  re- 
moving the  cause.  Selfishness  is  only  possible  when 
one  man  can  gain  at  the  expense  of  another.  Un- 
der Socialism  no  one  could  thus  gain,  for  the 
interests  of  every  man  would  be  identical  with 
the  interests  of  every  other  man.  No  one  could 
serve  his  own  interests  without  serving  the  inter- 
ests of  others,  and  conversely,  no  one  could  injure 
others  without  injuring  himself.  Socialism  would  make 
the  interests  of  one  identical  with  the  interests  of  all.  It 
would  realize  the  solidarity  of  humanity.  The  unity  of 
mankind  can  only  be  realized  by  this  unity  of  human  in- 
terests. When  society  is  thus  organized,  that  which  is 
advantageous  to  one  would  be  advantageous  to  all. 
Under  such  a  system  the  evil  of  selfishness  would  be 
plucked  up  by  the  roots ;  both  motive  and  opportunity 
would  be  eliminated.  Socialism  would  thus  realize  the 


104     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

brotherhood  of  man  and  reduce  the  Golden  Rule  to  prac- 
tice. 

If  the  golden  age,  sometimes  called  the  Kingdom  of 
God — the  reign  of  peace,  justice,  and  plenty — is  ever 
realized  on  earth,  it  must  be  in  such  an  economic  en- 
vironment as  Socialism  proposes.  One  may  doubt  the 
practicability  and  even  the  desirability  of  the  ideal,  but 
he  cannot  controvert  the  necessary  conditions  of  its  reali- 
zation. 

Thus,  peace  can  never  be  realized  in  an  industrial  sys- 
tem of  antagonisms,  a  system  which  sets  man  against 
man,  denies  the  law  of  service,  and  makes  the  success  of 
one  man  depend  upon  the  failure  of  others.  There  can 
be  no  peace  where  the  hand  of  every  man  is  raised 
against  his  neighbor.  Man  cannot  love  his  neighbor  as 
himself  when  he  is  compelled  to  fight  with  his  neighbor 
for  his  daily  necessities.  The  very  first  requisite  of  the 
ideal  state  is  the  establishment  of  harmony  in  the  in- 
dustrial realm — the  substitution  of  co-operation  for  com- 
petition. So  long  as  competition  is  the  law  of  industry, 
just  so  long  men  will  be  arrayed  against  their  fellows. 
The  spirit  of  competition  is  war.  The  spirit  of  co-opera- 
tion is  peace.  Industrial  and  commercial  war,  like  physi- 
cal war,  begets  enmity,  strife,  and  hatred. 

Justice,  another  requisite  of  the  golden  age,  can  never 
be  realized  under  an  economic  system  that  permits,  and 
even  necessitates,  injustice.  The  whole  wage  and  profit 
system  is  based  upon  the  exploitation  of  labor.  It  en- 
deavors to  justify  competition,  freedom  of  contract,  and 
private  capital — principles  that  have  worked  the  degra- 
dation and  enslavement  of  labor.  This  system  perpetu- 
ates, economic  conditions  that  are  unjust  and  abomin- 
able. 

Again,  plenty  will  never  be  realized  for  all  under  the 
present  system.  So  long  as  production  is  carried  on  for 


MORAL  STRENGTH  OF  SOCIALISM,  10$ 

private  profit  the  needs  of  the  people  will  never  be  met. 
Profit  demands  that  production  should  cease  before  the 
needs  of  the  people  have  been  satisfied.  An  abundance 
for  all  means  low  values,  consequently,  production  is 
discontinued  whenever  value  is  threatened. 

These  requisites  of  the  golden  age,  then,  can  never  be 
realized  under  our  present  system  of  industry.  The  very 
principles  of  capitalism  are  unchristian  and  barbaric. 
Christianity  says,  "  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens  and 
so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ."  But  freedom  of  contract  be- 
tween unequals  means  the  freedom  of  the  strong  to  op- 
press the  weak.  Christianity  says,  "  Let  nothing  be  done 
through  strife."  "  Let  no  man  seek  his  own  but  his 
neighbor's  good."  But  competition  means  each  man  for 
himself.  It  is  self-interest  against  one's  neighbor's  in- 
terest. Men  co-operate  in  the  production  of  wealth  and 
then  scramble  to  see  who  will  get  the  most  in  the  dis- 
tribution. Those  who  are  strongest  intellectually  or  the 
most  cunning  gain  an  advantage  over  others  and  secure 
the  lion's  share.  These  advantages  have  now  been  re- 
duced to  statute  law  so  that  the  possessors  of  these  priv- 
ileges are  secure  although  often  intellectually  inferior  to 
those  taken  advantage  of.  If  a  man  physically  strong 
goes  through  the  streets  and  uses  his  strength  upon 
those  he  chances  to  meet  and  appropriates  to  himself 
their  possessions,  he  is  called  an  unsafe  person  to  be  at 
large  and  is  straightway  locked  up.  But  what  is  the  dif- 
ference in  morals  between  physical  sand-bagging 
and  intellectual  sand-bagging  ?  Should  the  intellectu- 
ally strong  and  cunning  be  allowed  to  prey  upon  the 
weak  and  innocent  ?  Are  we  not  all  brothers  ?  What 
would  you  say  of  a  family  where  the  strongest  brother 
was  allowed  to  appropriate  all  the  nutritious  food  and 
leave  only  the  poorest,  and  but  a  small  quantity  at  that, 
for  his  weaker  brothers  and  sisters  ?  This  is  the  method 


106    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

of  our  national  family.  It  destroys  the  sense  of  human 
brotherhood  and  negatives  the  higher  feelings  and  sym- 
pathies. In  marked  contrast  to  this,  Socialism  is  all-in- 
clusive. It  leaves  no  residuum  unprovided  for.  It 
makes  ample  provision  for  all  dependents, — the  weak, 
infirm,  and  industrially  incapable.  Socialism  rests  the 
title  to  the  means  of  subsistence  upon  the  fact  that  all 
are  members  of  one  race,  children  of  one  common 
Father. 

The  moral  strength  of  Socialism,  then,  is  evidenced 
by  its  lofty  aim  and  spirit.  It  embodies  the  highest 
ideals  and  seeks  to  render  character  supreme  instead  of 
cunning. 

2.  ITS  ABOLITION  OF  BUSINESS  DISHONESTY. 

The  present  economic  and  social  environment  is  not 
favorable  to  the  development  of  honesty.  Where  wealth 
means  so  much,  is  it  any  wonder  that  men  sacrifice 
everything  for  its  attainment  ?  To  be  poor  is  to  be  sub- 
jected to  want,  dependence,  insecurity,  and  degradation. 
I  should  think  this  hell  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  ortho- 
dox. It  is  only  by  the  possession  of  property  that  one 
can  escape  these  evils  and  become  independent  and  se- 
cure. 

If  a  man  is  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  a  certain 
commodity  he  will  tell  you  that  he  may  as  well  make  all 
he  can,  for  if  he  does  not  someone  else  will.  Should  he 
forego  the  fortune,  it  would  not  benefit  the  poor,  for  life 
is  a  scramble  and  others  will  secure  what  he  relinquishes. 
So  men  are  driven  to  amass  wealth,  thinking  that  they 
might  as  well  do  it  as  for  others  to  do  it.  Again,  a  man 
knows  that  he  must  provide  for  his  family,  and  perhaps, 
leave  sufficient  to  keep  them  in  case  of  his  demise.  He 
knows  too  much  of  the  world  to  desire  to  trust  them  to 


MORAL  STRENGTH  OF  SOCIALISM  107 

the  tender  mercies  of  his  fellows.  He  also  knows  that 
under  this  system  of  grab  and  greed  wealth  means  suc- 
cess, and  every  man  dreads  failure.  Is  it  any  wonder, 
in  view  of  this,  that  Mammon  has  so  many  worshipers  ? 
If  men  are  to  succeed  they  must  resort  to  the  necessary 
means.  Our  present  system  compels  a  maji  to  seek  his 
own  interest  by  overreaching  others.  Men  adulterate 
goods,  manufacture  shoddy  cloth  and  practice  deception 
simply  because  it  is  to  their  advantage  to  do  so.  This 
has  been  carried  to  such  an  extent  to-day  that  every  man 
is  suspected  and  his  word  taken  at  a  discount.  This  is 
a  horrible  state  of  affairs.  In  fact  the  whole  business 
fabric  is  rotten  to  the  core.  Its  motto  is,  "  Do  others  or 
they  will  do  you." 

We  need  not  expect  that  these  evils  will  disappear  as 
long  as  this  struggle  for  life  continues.  Just  as  long  as 
it  is  for  man's  interest  to  be  dishonest,  we  need  expect 
no  improvement.  Socialism  will  make  it  for  his  interest 
to  be  honest.  This  very  same  self-interest  which  is  now 
tearing  down  morals  will  then  build  them  up.  In  fact, 
most  of  the  offences  will  disappear  for  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity to  commit  them.  Merchants,  manufacturers, 
contractors,  bank  presidents,  trustees,  etc.,  will  all  dis- 
appear under  Socialism,  and  with  them  the  cheating, 
fraud,  defalcations,  embezzlements,  etc.,  which  are  con- 
nected with  privately  conducted  enterprises.  Besides, 
when  a  few  hours'  agreeable  work  will  secure  to  all  the 
needs  of  life,  why  should  any  rational  being  want  'to 
cheat  or  rob  ?  Surely  no  one  will  be  tempted  to  live  by 
crime  when  he  can  live  easier  by  honest  work.  When 
wealth  is  no  longer  a  power  over  men  it  will  not  be  dis- 
honestly sought.  The  motive  for  excessive  accumula- 
tion will  be  gone  when  society  guarantees  all  against 
economic  want  and  renders  it  impossible  for  men  to  use 
their  wealth  to  lord  it  over  their  fellows. 


108     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

Business  frauds  and  dishonesties  are  directly  due  U* 
our  economic  system.  Separate  men  from  their  econo- 
mic interests  and  you  will  find,  in  the  great  majority  of 
cases,  that  they  are  morally  sound.  The  great  mass  of 
men  are  not  bad.  If  they  deviate  from  the  path  of  recti- 
tude, it  is  because  they  are  tempted  to  do  so  by  our  false 
economic  system.  The  little  tricks  of  trade  harden  the 
conscience  and  make  men  oblivious  to  all  moral  duties. 
The  good  resolves  are  frustrated  by  the  temptation  of 
private  gain.  Here  and  there  men  rise  above  their  in- 
dustrial environment,  but  we  cannot  hope  for  general 
improvement  in  business  honesty  so  long  as  men  can 
advance  their  interests  at  the  expense  of  their  fellows. 
The  root  of  the  evil  is  economic.  It  is  the  economic 
form  that  gives  shape  and  color  to  social  institutions  as 
well  as  intellectual  and  moral  tendencies.  The  moral 
standards  produced  by  our  economic  system  have  reduced 
morality  to  a  matter  of  social  might  and  privilege. 
Socialism  would  abolish  the  evil  by  removing  the  cause. 
Under  Socialism  the  interest  of  every  man  would  be 
compatible  with  that  of  every  other  man.  There  would 
be  no  motive  or  opportunity  for  business  dishonesty. 

"  But,"  says  the  objector,  "  you  cannot  make  men 
honest  by  legislation."  Very  true,  we  cannot  directly, 
and  no  one  expects  to.  What  do  we  expect,  is  to  sur- 
round men  with  a  suitable  environment,  congenial  to 
honesty.  We  desire  to  so  reconstruct  society  that  if  a 
man  is  inclined  to  be  honest  he  will  not  have  to  be  dis- 
honest in  order  to  succeed.  If  a  man  is  placed  in  an  in- 
fectious district  and  compelled  to  remain  there  he  will 
become  sick.  What  we  might  expect  to  do  by  legisla- 
tion is  not  to  prohibit  his  sickness  but  to  provide  for  his 
removal,  or  the  removal  of  the  infectious  environment. 
When  we  have  removed  by  legislation  the  cause  of  the 
disease  the  effect  will  disappear.  So  when  we  remove 


MORAL  STRENGTH  Of  SOCIALISM.  109 

the  infectious  environment  of  capitalism,  its  evil  results 
will  disappear.  We  need  not  expect  men  to  become 
honest  so  long  as  the  infectious  environment  of  competi- 
tion, the  cause  of  dishonesty,  remains. 

Socialism  wishes  to  establish  an  environment  favor- 
able to  the  development  of  moral  qualities.  Environ- 
ment has  a  far  greater  influence  than  many  are  aware. 
Of  course,  every  man  feels  this  in  a  way.  A  father  seeks 
to  bring  up  his  children  in  a  favorable  environment. 
Many,  however,  have  been  prone  to  slide  over  this  point, 
for  they  desire  to  escape  responsibility.  No  one  pretends 
that  a  child  of  the  slums  has  an  equal  chance  with  one 
fortunately  situated.  Modern  science  and  social  experi- 
ence have  shown  us  the  value  of  environment.  Almost 
invariably  a  child  taken  from  the  slums  and  placed  in 
favorable  environment  becomes  a  good  citizen,  whereas 
if  he  had  been  left  in  his  old  environment  he  would  have 
become  a  criminal.  It  is  said  that  statistics  prove  that 
nine  out  of  ten  children  are  saved  by  a  change  of  en- 
vironment. While  heredity  is  important  in  regard  to 
special  talents,  environment  seems  to  be  far  more  impor- 
tant where  moral  character  is  concerned. 

I  have  but  little  sympathy  with  those  who  are  con- 
stantly raising  the  hackneyed  objection  that  society  can- 
not be  improved  or  men  made  honest  until  we  first  im- 
prove human  nature.  But  the  great  majority  of  men 
are  not  bad.  As  I  study  human  history,  I  am  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  men,  according  to  the  light  which 
they  have  had,  have  done  grandly  well.  The  Socialist  is 
the  only  economist  who  has  studied  human  nature  and 
whose  conclusions  are  warranted  by  facts.  The  old 
school  assumes  that  avarice  is  the  only  motive  of  human 
action.  This  is  false.  Man  is  inherently  good,  not  bad. 
He  will  do  good  for  his  own  sake,  but  not  evil  unless  for 
the  sake  of  gain.  Man  is  a  creature  of  circumstances. 


1 10     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

What  he  is  depends  largely  upon  his  surroundings. 
Human  nature  is  plastic,  like  the  clay  in  the  hands  of  the 
potter.  The  shape  into  which  it  is  moulded  depends 
upon  the  force  of  circumstances.  Human  nature  prop- 
erly environed  will  be  pure  and  fruitful.  Nearly  all  the 
evils  and  wrongs  attributed  to  depraved  hearts  are  due  to 
our  economic  struggles  and  inequalities.  Business  dis- 
honesty will  not  be  eliminated  so  long  as  the  present  in- 
dustrial system  remains. 

3.  ITS  RESTRICTION  OF  DIVORCE. 

The  grounds  for  divorce  are  usually  given  as  adultery, 
cruelty,  desertion,  and  drunkenness.  While  these  may 
be  the  immediate  ground  for  divorce,  we  must  go  deeper 
to  find  the  real  cause.  We  wish  to  know  the  cause  of  the 
estrangement  which  thus  manifests  itself.  There  must 
be  some  antecedent  cause  to  these  proximate  grounds 
for  divorce.  To  say  that  adultery,  cruelty,  etc.,  are  the 
main  causes  of  divorce  and  stop  there,  is  to  offer  no  so- 
lution to  the  problem.  These  evils  are  undoubtedly  the 
immediate  cause,  like  the  last  straw  that  breaks  the 
camel's  back,  but  the  real  cause  which  has  led  to  these 
evils  lies  deeper. 

Mr.  John  Bascom,  in  his  Social  Theory,  has  indicated 
the  chief  cause  of  family  discontent  which  leads  to 
broken  vows  and  the  legal  grounds  for  divorce.  He 
says :  "  Marriages  under  the  stress  of  expenditure  that 
presses  hard  on  the  means  of  support,  tend  obviously 
to  increase  those  occasions  of  discontent  which  issue  in 
estranged  feelings  and  broken  vows.  In  the  report  re- 
ferred to,  the  average  period  of  marriages  which  have  led 
to  divorce  is  given  as  9.17  years.  This  long  period  shows 
that  divorce  is  not,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the  result 
of  sudden  freaks,  violent  passions,  or  ungoverned  lusts, 


MORAL  STRENGTH  OF  SOCIALISM.  Ill 

but  of  a  failure  to  win  permanently  the  conditions  of  an 
enjoyable  life.  The  household  has  not  coalesced  under 
ihe  activity  and  growing  interests  of  the  household.  The 
moral  forces  have  been  weakened  and  worn  away  by  the 
perplexities  and  vexations  of  the  mere  process  of  living." 
Mr.  Bascom  here  intimates  that  economic  conditions  are 
the  chief  cause  of  divorce.  The  primal  occasions  of  dis- 
content which  issue  in  estranged  feelings  and  broken  vows 
— adultery,  cruelty,  desertion,  and  intemperance — are 
largely  due  to  the  struggle  for  existence.  Says  Prof. 
Ely,  "  It  would  further  appear  from  investigation  that 
the  chief  causes  of  divorce  are  economic." 

Laxity  of  laws  in  some  of  our  States  have  often  been 
regarded  as  a  cause  of  the  increase  of  divorce.  But 
these  laws  are  rather  effects  than  causes.  Carrol  D. 
Wright  has  shown  that  eighty  per  cent,  of  those,  divorced 
are  divorced  in  the  State  in  which  the  marriage  took 
place.  Now  if  we  bear  in  mind  the  changing  character 
of  our  population  we  see  that  the  number  of  those  who 
have  sought  a  State  for  the  purpose  of  availing  them- 
selves of  lax  laws  is  very  small.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
loose  laws,  instead  of  being  a  cause,  are  but  an  effect  of 
the  disease  itself.  The  chief  cause  of  divorce,  then,  is  to 
be  found  in  our  economic  system.  Socialism  would 
surely  restrict  this  growing  evil. 

4.  ITS  PREVENTION  OF  PROSTITUTION. 

Prostitution  is  one  of  the  greatest  curses  that  infest 
modern  society.  This  hideous  ulcer,  which  places  the 
seal  of  death  upon  civilization,  is  wrinked  at  by  the  greed 
that  demands  of  women  that  they  sell  their  bodies,  or 
content  themselves  with  the  wretched  hovel  and  its  ac- 
companiments of  squalor,  filth,  and  want.  Such  is  the 
alternative  presented  to  thousands  of  women  by  competi- 


112      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

tive  industry.  Driven  from  home  by  economic  need 
they  seek  the  factory  and  are  there  ruled  by  masculine 
avarice  and  sensualism. 

Says  Frances  E.  Willard,  in  an  address  at  the  World's 
Convention  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  held  in  London,  Eng- 
land, in  1897:  "  Poverty  and  dependence  are  the  curse  of 
women  and  all  the  world.  In  the  hunger  that  cries  out 
for  bread,  and  the  cowardice  that  cannot  cope  with 
death,  which  lead  women  to  that  awful  commerce  so 
much  worse  than  death  could  be,  which  is  the  foun- 
tain of  disease  and  diabolism  to  men  and  women  both, 
as  they  find  it ;  and  which  is  far  worse  even  than  that 
awful  blight  of  African  slavery  which  was  characterized 
by  Dr.  Livingstone  as  '  the  great  open'  sore  of  the 
world/  " 

Prostitution  is  the  inevitable  result  of  our  present  eco- 
nomic system  which  forces  helpless  women  to  earn  their 
living  in  the  factories,  shops,  and  mines.  Here  they  are 
taken  advantage  of  and  offered  wages  too  light  for  their 
support,  and  then  pointed  to  prostitution  as  a  means  of 
supplementing  their  incomes.  The  increase  of  female 
labor  is  everywhere  accompanied  by  an  increase  of  pros- 
titution. Working  women  are  paid  so  low  that  they  are 
compelled  to  prostitute  themselves  or  starve. 

In  speaking  of  the  stores  of  New  York  the  "  Working 
Woman's  Society  "  states :  "  The  average  wages  do  not 
exceed  $4.50 ;  and  in  one  of  our  largest  stores  the  aver- 
age wage  is  $2.40,  in  another  $2.90.  The  tendency  in  all 
stores  is  to  secure  the  cheapest  help;  for  this  reason 
school-girls  just  graduated  are  much  sought  for,  as  they 
having  homes  can  afford  to  work  for  less.  But  a  large 
proportion  of  the  saleswomen  either  pay  board  or  help 
support  a  family;  and  how  can  this  be  done  on  $4.50 
per  week  ?  The  cheapest  board  in  dark  stuffy  attics  or 
tenement  houses  is  $3.00,  fuel  and  washing  extra ;  and 


MORAL  S  TRENGTH  OF  SOCIALISM.  1 1 3 

no  woman  can  pay  doctor's  bills  and  maintain  a  respect- 
able appearance  on  what  remains.  How  then  does  she 
live  ?  There  are  two  ways  of  answering:  The  story  of 
a  woman  who  worked  in  one  of  our  large  houses  is  one 
way.  This  woman  earned  $3.00  per  week;  she  paid 
$1.50  for  her  room,  her  breakfast  consisted  of  a  cup  of 
coffee ;  she  had  no  lunch ;  she  had  but  one  meal  a  day. 
Many  saleswomen  must  be  in  this  condition.  The  other 
answer  is  that  given  by  more  than  one  employer  who 
when  saleswomen  complain  of  the  low  wages  offered, 
reply :  '  Oh,  well,  get  yourself  a  gentleman  friend,  most 
of  our  girls  have  them.'  Not  long  since  a  member  of 
our  Society  received  a  letter  from  a  salesman  in  a  certain 
house,  which  read  thus :  '  In  the  name  of  God,  cannot 
something  be  done  for  the  saleswomen  ?  I  am  a  sales- 
man in ,  and  I  have  walked  in  disguise  at  night  upon 

certain  streets  to  be  accosted  by  girls  in  my  own  depart- 
ment— girls  whose  salaries  are  so  low  it  was  impossible 
to  live  upon  them.'  A  painter  told  us  that  in  working  in 
the  houses  of  ill-repute  in  the  vicinity  of  Twenty-third 
Street,  he  was  astonished  at  the  number  of  women  whom 
he  recognized  as  saleswomen  in  different  stores,  who 
frequented  these  houses." 

Prostitution  and  low  wages  go  hand  in  hand.  A  large 
part  of  the  working  women  in  our  cities  do  not  receive 
sufficient  wages  to  enable  them  to  meet  the  urgent  needs 
of  life.  They  must  seek  supplementary  assistance  in 
prostitution  or  accept  the  consequences  of  physical  and 
mental  distress.  The  present  system  puts  a  premium 
upon  vice  and  a  ban  upon  virtue. 

What  is  the  remedy  for  this  dread  evil  of  prostitution  ? 
The  abolition  of  the  wage-system  which  means  the  aboli- 
tion of  poverty  and  dependence.  It  is  the  exploitation 
of  the  women  workers  that  causes  them  to  sell  their 
bodies  for  money.  They  thus  endeavor  to  secure  suffi- 


1 14    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

cient  means  to  enable  them  to  eke  out  their  scanty  in- 
come. They  are  obliged  to  make  up,  at  the  cost  of  their 
womanhood,  the  amount  of  wealth  which  the  capitalist 
fleeces  from  them. 

Socialism  would  abolish  prostitution  by  lifting  women 
above  the  power  of  individualism.  It  would  abolish  the 
wage-system  and  secure  to  women  workers  steady  em- 
ployment and  the  full  product  of  their  toil.  By  placing 
woman  upon  an  equal  footing  with  man,  and  placing 
both  above  dependence  upon  the  cupidity  and  avarice  of 
others,  manhood  and  womanhood  would  blossom  as  the 
rose.  Give  to  women  the  opportunity  of  well-being  in 
virtue,  and  prostitution  will  become  a  thing  of  the  past. 
This  social  evil,  then,  has  its  roots  in  injustice — the  in- 
justice begotten  by  the  private  ownership  of  the  means 
of  production,  which  enables  some  to  take  advantage  of 
their  fellows.  Socialism  will  remove  the  cause  of  pros- 
titution,— the  degradation  and  poverty  wrought  by  the 
wage  and  profit  system.  The  abolition  of  the  proletariat 
class  implies  the  abolition  of  prostitution. 

5.  ITS  ELIMINATION  OF  CRIME. 

Crime  is  against  the  State.  It  is  chiefly  the  result  of 
social  institutions  which  work  injustice.  Enforced  idle- 
ness and  poverty,  inevitable  under  the  present  system,  are 
the  chief  causes  of  criminal  acts.  Much  testimony 
might  be  adduced  were  it  necessary  to  show  the  respon- 
sibility of  society  in  this  direction.  The  unanimous  ver- 
dict of  those  who  have  made  criminology  a  careful  study 
is,  that  the  great  majority  of  criminals  are  susceptible 
to  moral  influences  and  that  their  life  of  crime  is  due  to 
force  of  circumstances. 

Society  offers  upon  every  hand  varied  temptations  to 
commit  criminal  acts.  To  steer  clear  of  these  tempta- 


MORAL  S  TRENG  TH  OF  SOCIALISM.  1 1  $ 

tions  would  be  to  steer  clear  of  society  itself.  To  avoid 
temptation  would  mean  to  avoid  being  unfavorably  born, 
to  avoid  being  poor,  to  avoid  trade  and  manufacture,  in 
short,  to  avoid  all  the  avenues  of  life,  because  they  are 
all  fraught  with  divers  temptations.  These  temptations 
are  part  and  parcel  of  our  present  system.  They  are  the 
result  of  the  economic  principles  of  private  capital,  free- 
dom of  contract,  and  free  competition.  The  working  of 
these  principles  crushes  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
our  fellow  beings  and  it  is  from  this  class  that  our  crim- 
inals are  chiefly  recruited.  Those  crushed  by  competi- 
tive industry  or  displaced  by  perfected  machinery  and 
the  concentration  of  capital,  have  nothing  left  them  but 
to  beg,  steal,  or  prostitute  themselves.  It  is  this  class 
which  constitutes  the  slums,  and  it  is  the  slums  that 
breed  eighty  per  cent,  of  our.  criminals.  Think  of  it  ! 
Every  day  in  this  country  witnesses  twenty  suicides, 
thirty-five  murders,  and  forty-two  bankruptcies.  The 
cause  of  these  evils  inheres  in  our  economic  system. 
Poverty  is  the  chief  motive  to  crime  and  with  its  aboli- 
tion crime  must  become  a  thing  of  the  past.  Says  Prof, 
Commons :  "  Involuntary  idleness  and  irregular  em- 
ployment are  the  antichrists  of  to-day  that  drive  men 
and  women  into  crime,  intemperance  and  shame."  It 
is  conceded  that  Socialism  would  provide  steady  em- 
ployment and,  consequently,  would  remove  this  cause  of 
evil. 

The  ablest  defenders  of  capitalism  concede  the  advan- 
tage of  Socialism  in  eliminating  crime.  In  speaking  of 
Socialism  Dr.  Woolsey  says :  "  There  would  be  no 
tramps,  no  public  beggars,  and  no  strangers  coming  to 
steal.  ...  In  fact,  the  eighth  commandment  would  be 
far  easier  to  keep  than  in  society  as  it  now  is.  The 
sixth  commandment,  too,  might  also  lie  on  the  shelf  .  .  . 
then  a  number  of  crimes,  such  as  forgery,  embezz1"- 


Il6    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

ment,  counterfeiting — all  crimes,  in  fact,  against  prop- 
erty, and  many  of  those  which  injure  the  person,  would 
be  much  limited  in  their  sphere  of  operation." 

Socialism  does  not  claim  any  presto-change  of  mak- 
ing saints  out  of  sinners.  What  it  does  claim  is  thai 
good  conditions  produce  good  results,  and  vice  versa. 
By  establishing  good  conditions  men  would  be  pre- 
vented from  becoming  monopolists,  fire-bugs,  burglars, 
train-robbers,  murderers,  etc.  Our  present  system 
breeds  every  species  of  criminals  by  the  wholesale.  Un- 
healthy conditions  create  both  physical  and  moral  dis- 
ease. Socialism  would  establish  conditions  that  would 
remove  both  the  temptation  and  opportunity  to  crime. 
This  elimination  of  crime  is  another  evidence  of  the 
moral  strength  of  Socialism. 

6.      ITS    PREVENTION    OF    INTEMPERANCE, 
INSANITY,    ETC. 

Science  is  showing  to-day  that  intemperance,  insanity, 
etc.,  are  not  only  individual  diseases  but  social  diseases. 
Man  differs  from  the  animal  mainly  in  his  nervous  sys- 
tem. It  is  this  which  makes  him  a  social  animal.  The 
nervous  system  is  carefully  balanced  and  easily  disturbed. 
Maladjustment  with  society  places  the  individual  on  the 
verge  of  nervous  degeneracy.  As  the  result  of  this  con- 
dition the  nervous  system  calls  for  some  anaesthetic, 
which,  perhaps,  previous  experience  has  shown  is  cap- 
able of  quieting  the  nerves. 

Now  that  which  unbalances  the  nervous  -system  is  the 
direct  cause  of  these  evils  of  intemperance  and  insanity. 
These  are  but  the  manifestations  of  the  maladjustment. 
Intemperance,  for  example,  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
nervous  system,  is  an  excessive  use  of  some  anaesthetic, 
such  as  alcohol,  opium,  chloral,  ether,  etc.  Any  caust 


MORAL  STRENGTH  OF  SOCIALISM.  117 

that  unbalances  the  nervous  system  gives  rise  to  the 
feelings  of  unrest  and  irritability,  and  creates  an  irresisti- 
ble craving  for  some  anaesthetic.  This  craving  is  the 
demand  of  the  nervous  system.  It  is  not  due  to  any 
pleasant  taste  of  alcohol — man  wants  the  intoxicant  not 
for  the  taste  but  for  the  intoxication. 

Inebriety  is  a  disease  of  the  nervous  system,  due  to 
some  structural  defect  in  the  substance  of  the  nerves  or 
brain,  and  the  same  is  true  of  insanity.  The  causes  of 
these  diseases  may  be  classed  as  predisposing  and  ex- 
citing. The  former  are  those  which  render  the  body 
susceptible,  the  latter  are  those  which  excite  the  out- 
break in  persons  previously  predisposed. 

Now  what  are  some  of  the  social  and  economic  con- 
ditions that  cause  this  unstable  or  .diseased  nervous  sys- 
tem ?  Prof.  Commons  mentions  four  primal  causes  of 
intemperance,  and  that  which  is  true  of  intemperance  is 
true  of  all  the  social  diseases.  He  says :  "  Diet,  sani- 
tary conditions,  and  occupation,  combined  with  heredity, 
are  the  most  far-reaching  of  the  predisposing  causes  of 
intemperance.  The  diet  of  the  rich  may  be  too  luxurious, 
and  that  of  the  poor  unwholesome,  insufficient,  and  in- 
nutritious.  The  nervous  system  is  not  sufficiently  nour- 
ished, and  there  is  a  craving  for  something  to  stimulate 
and  soothe.  The  salted  meats  and  the  adulterated  gro- 
ceries of  the  poor,  together  with  their  ignorance  of  cook- 
ing, are  probably  a  co-operating  cause  for  more  than 
half  our  intemperance.  Children  are  brought  up  with- 
out wholesome  or  sufficient  food,  their  bodies  are  starved 
and  puny,  and  when  they  grow  older  and  are  compelled 
to  work,  their  strength  cannot  withstand  the  nervous 
strain.  Intoxicating  drink  is  their  inevitable  refuge."  * 

Prof.  Ely,  in  speaking  of  our  crowded  cities,  says : 

1  Social  Reform  and  the  Church,  Commons,  p.  108. 


Il8      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

"  Here  we  find  industrial  and  social  conditions  which 
force  us  to  believe  that,  until  they  are  remedied,  we 
can  look  for  no  lasting  growth  of  temperance  or 
strengthening  of  character :  on  the  one  side,  immense 
wealth,  with  its  temptations  of  pride  and  luxury ;  on  the 
other  crowded  tenements,  hot  and  noxious  in  summer, 
always  loathsome  and  repulsive,  occupied  by  those  who 
do  not  know  whether  they  will  find  work  that  day  or 
not.  .  .  .  An  important  reason  for  the  craving  for  in- 
toxicants, as  is  shown  by  one  of  the  foremost  of  Ameri- 
can physiologists,  is  the  lack  of  sufficient  food  or  of  a 
sufficient  variety  of  wholesome  food,  and  especially 
poorly  cooked  foods."  * 

Dr.  Kerr,  in  speaking  of  sanitary  conditions,  says : 
"  Ill-ventilated  and  over-crowded  dwellings,  from  the 
vitiated  state  of  the  air  within  them,  occasion  a  languor 
and  sluggishness  which  lead  to  functional  derangement, 
and  produce  a  profound  feeling  of  depression  which,  in 
many  cases,  predisposes  and  excites  to  intemperance  in 
alcohol."  2 

The  occupation  chiefly  determines  both  diet  and  tene 
ment.  With  professional  and  business  men  the  high 
pressure  of  competition  creates  nervous  irritability  and 
leads  to  the  use  of  intoxicants.  The  working  classes  are 
also  led  to  the  use  of  stimulants  by  long  hours,  unsani- 
tary surroundings  and  monotony  of  employment.  These 
causes  may  be  summed  up  in  the  one  word,  environ- 
ment. Men  crave  for  drink  when  their  system  is  out  of 
order  as  the  result  of  overwork,  worry,  unhealthy  sur- 
roundings, loss  of  sleep,  foul  air,  etc.  Men  who  lead  a 
cheerless  life  amid  gloomy  suroundings  seek  for  excite- 
ment such  as  is  furnished  by  the  saloon.  The  appetite  is 

1  Outlines  of  Economics,  Ely,  p.  239. 
•Quoted  by  Commons  in  Social  Reform,  and  the  Church,  p.  109. 


MORAL  STRENGTH  OF' SOCIALISM.  119 

formed  and  it  is  transmitted  through  inheritance.  When 
I  think  of  the  surroundings  of  the  poverty-stricken 
masses,  their  lives  of  unrequited  and  monotonous  toil, 
I  do  not  wonder  that  men  are  driven  to  drink.  Give 
the  people  healthy  and  decent  houses,  pure  and  whole- 
some food,  and  intemperance  will  rapidly  disappear.  If 
the  children  of  the  better  class  were  placed  in  the  slums 
and  compelled  to  live  there,  they  would  become  trans- 
formed into  the  likeness  of  their  environment,  and  their 
children  would  be  moral  and  physical  renegades.  To 
expect  children  born  and  bred  in  such  surroundings  to 
grow  up  into  true  and  noble  manhood  and  womanhood 
is  to  expect  greater  miracles  than  those  recorded  in  the 
legends  of  the  past. 

The  last  cause  given  is  heredity.  Upon  this  Prof. 
Commons  says  :  "  The  overwork  of  mothers  in  factories 
and  sweatshops  is  the  very  hothouse  of  drunkenness  for 
generations  to  come.  Whatever  bequeaths  a  defective 
or  deficient  nervous  system  will  predispose  the  inheritor 
to  inebriety."  1 

The  real  causes  of  intemperance,  then,  lie  in  our  per- 
verse social  and  industrial  system.  Intemperance  cannot 
be  eradicated  so  long  as  that  condition  which  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  word,  poverty,  exists.  Says  Mr. 
Gunton :  "  It  is  true  that  drunkenness,  like  pestilence, 
tends  to  increase  poverty,  but  the  former,  like  the  latter, 
can  exist  only  in  the  social  and  sanitary  atmosphere 
which  poverty  makes  possible.  Drunkenness  is  as  much 
a  social  disease  as  cholera  and  small-pox  are  physical 
diseases.  Indeed,  they  are  both  primarily  due  to  the 
same  general  economic  causes — poverty  and  its  conse- 
quent degrading  social  and  unwholesome  sanitary  con- 

«  Social  Reform  and  the  Church,  Commons,  p.  Hi. 


120     SAINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

ditions.  .  Drunkenness,  like  all  other  social  diseases, 
has  its  tap  root  in  economic  conditions."  l 

It  is  indeed  true  that  an  intemperate  worker  is  often 
poorer  than  other  laborers  who  are  temperate.  But 
the  whole  question  is  one  of  relative  poverty  within  a 
class.  The  fact  of  their  being  wage-workers  reduces 
them  to  a  condition  of  poverty.  Even  the  most  tem- 
perate can  barely  make  ends  meet.  As  a  whole,  the 
wage-earning  class  exists  upon  the  border  of  destitu- 
tion. It  is  this  condition  of  poverty  and  dependence  that 
predisposes  them  to  intemperance.  •'>  Intemperance  is 
thus  not  the  real  cause  of  poverty,  poverty  is  begotten 
by  our  unjust  economic  system.  If  all  were  temperate 
they  would  still  be  poor,  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  they 
would  be  still  dependent  upon  the  monopolizers  of  the 
means  of  life.  But  this  does  not  mean,  of  course,  but 
that  men  who  are  poor  often  become  destitute  through 
intemperance.  The  condition  of  poverty  is  what  breeds 
intemperance.  Says  Frances  Willard :  "  Twenty-one 
years  of  experience  have  convinced  me  that  poverty  is 
the  prime  cause  of  intemperance."  The  same  is  true  of 
insanity.  There  are  some  thousands  of  people  in  the 
United  States  who  go  insane  every  year  for  want  of 
proper  food  and  clothing.  What  a  disgrace  to  civiliza- 
tion! 

The  remedy  for  inebriety  and  insanity,  as  for  other 
social  evils,  is  in  the  abolition  of  our  present  industrial 
conditions.  These  evils  are  constantly  increasing,  and 
will  continue  to  multiply  so  long  as  the  present  system 
exists. 

This  system  predisposes  vast  multitudes  to  intem- 
perance, insanity,  crime,  etc.  It  bequeathes  to  posterity 
a  perverted  and  diseased  nervous  system  which  renders 

1  Wtalth  and  Progress,  Gunton,  pp.  208,  211. 


MORAL  STRENGTH  OF  SOCIALISM.  121 

them  suitable  subjects  of  these  evils.  There  is  no  rem- 
edy sufficient  to  effect  a  cure  but  the  abolition  of  the 
present  system  of  industry.  Thus  science  points  out  to 
us  the  only  way  to  social  salvation.  The  social  problem, 
in  the  last  analysis,  is  merely  the  problem  of  wealth  pro- 
duction and  distribution.  Owing  to  the  organic  nature 
of  society  this  problem  ramifies  in  all  directions.  Society 
is  an  organism,  and  just  as  when  the  physical  organism 
is  diseased  the  symptoms  manifest  themselves  in  vari- 
ous directions,  so  when  the  social  organism  is  diseased, 
the  symptoms  take  on  various  forms,  expressing  them- 
selves as  intemperance,  insanity,  crime,  pauperism,  etc. 
All  of  the  symptoms  evidence  a  diseased  body  economic. 
We  have  now  presented  some  of  the  evidences  of  the 
moral  strength  of  Socialism.  Is  it  not  clear  that  the 
new  order  would  realize  a  higher  morality  ? 


122     .PR'XCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

POVERTY ITS    CAUSE   AND    CURE. 

THAT  a  vast  majority  of  the  human  race  is  in  poverty 
none  will  deny.  So  true  is  this  that  it  is  mere  childish- 
ness to  discuss  the  question  of  whether  they  are  in  some 
way  better  off  than  their  forefathers.  Surely  they  are 
poor  enough,  and  we  need  not  enter  into  any  lengthy 
argument  or  statistics  to  substantiate  the  statement. 
Millions  of  people  in  this  country  always  exist  on  the 
border  of  destitution.  This  is  evident  when  we  realize 
that  only  four  and  one-half  per  cent,  of  the  national 
wealth  belongs  to  fifty-two  per  cent,  of  its  population, 
constituting  seven  millions  of  families.  There  are  millions 
of  people  working  under  conditions  and  living  in  homes 
that  are  disgraceful.  Millions  of  honest,  industrious 
people  are  badly  fed,  clothed,  and  housed,  and  thousands 
die  every  year  of  preventable  disease.  We  all  recognize 
this  fact  and  know,  if  we  will  stop  to  think  for  a  moment, 
that  there  is  no  excuse  for  the  existence  of  this  hell  of 
poverty.  No  God  or  devil  is  responsible.  We  are 
in  Gehenna  simply  because  we  have  kindled  the  fires,  and 
are  either  unwilling,  or  too  stupid,  to  put  them  out. 

We  are  surrounded  by  abundance  of  every  kind.  In 
fact,  we  have  an  overflow  of  products :  so  much  so  that 
the  poverty  from  which  we  suffer  is  born  of  plenty. 
What  an  anomaly  !  Overflowing  storehouses  on  the 
one  hand;  starvation  on  the  other:  the  people  of  this 
fair  land  in  need  of  the  common  decencies  and  necessi- 
ties of  life  because  too  much  has  been  produced.  Amer- 


POVERTY—ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE.  123 

ica,  with  all  its  inventiveness,  the  one  country  where  we 
should  expect  to  find  continuous  prosperity,  is  so 
plunged  in  degradation  that  in  the  great  State  of  New 
York,  in  1897,  2,551,455  persons,  one-third  of  the  in- 
habitants, applied  for  and  received  charitable  aid.  This 
included  only  the  number  assisted  by  those  associations 
organized  under  the  State  laws,  and  so  obliged  to  report 
to  the  Commissioner  of  Charities.  If  the  aid  rendered 
by  church  organizations  and  other  benevolent  societies 
were  included  the  number  of  recipients  would  be  in- 
creased at  least  fifty  per  cent. 

There  are  many  causes  assigned  for  poverty, — intem- 
perance, improvidence,  over-population,  idleness,  private 
ownership  of  land,  etc.  But  none  of  these  supposed  fac- 
tors can  be  dignified  by  the  name  of  cause.  Each,  however, 
may  be  such  in  some  measure.  Thus,  the  intemperate 
proletarian  is  often  more  indigent  than  his  more  tem- 
perate co-workers,  and  the  improvident  laborer  is  often 
poorer  than  his  fellow  who  exercises  the  habit  of  thrift 
and  self-help.  But  the  whole  matter  is  one  of  relative 
poverty  within  a  class,  who,  by  the  very  virtue  of  their 
being  members  of  that  class,  are  necessarily  reduced  to 
a  condition  of  dependence.  Even  the  temperate  and 
provident  laborer,  by  the  most  rigid  economy,  can  no 
more  than  make  the  ends  meet.  That  these  virtues  give 
him  an  advantage  over  his  competitor  no  one  can  doubt, 
but  his  superiority  would  cease  should  all  emulate  these 
qualities.  Those  who  attribute  poverty  to  these  causes 
overlook  the  fact  that  many  are  both  intemperate  and 
improvident  and  at  the  same  time  wealthy. 

Says  Herbert  Casson :  "  In  spite  of  the  greatest  ex- 
travagance and  laziness,  there  are  millionaires  who  can- 
not get  poor ;  and  in  spite  of  the  greatest  industry  and 
thrift,  there  are  workingmen  who  cannot  get  out  of 
debt,"  The  fact  is,  the  workers  as  a  class  are  poor, 


1 24      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

while  the  idlers  are  rich.  Twenty  thousand  people,  all 
of  whom  are  idlers  and  nearly  all  intemperate,  own  one- 
half  of  the  United  States.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
millions  who,  in  spite  of  their  industry  and  thrift,  now 
occupy  poorhouses  and  tramp-lodging  houses.  They 
have  worked  from  their  earliest  years  like  slaves  and 
now  are  obliged  to  suffer  the  miseries  of  a  penniless  old 
age.  To  ascribe  poverty  to  idleness,  improvidence,  in- 
temperance, etc.,  is  but  adding  insult  to  injury.  The  fact 
is,  these  conditions  are  begotten  by  the  wage  system. 

Mr.  John  Bascom,  speaking  of  the  wage  system,  says : 
"  Its  disadvantages  are  both  economic  and  social.  The 
workman  ceases  more  and  more,  tinder  this  system,  to 
be  an  intelligent,  interested,  and  responsible  partaker  in 
production.  This  attitude  favors  in  him  indolence,  in- 
difference, and  improvidence.  It  very  much  limits  that 
training  in  forecast  and  patience  which  well-ordered  in- 
dustry is  fitted  to  give.  In  the  lower  ranks  of  labor, 
this  indolence  and  indifference  prevail  to  a  degree  which 
frequently  compels  the  employer  to  work  his  men  in 
gangs  with  an  overseer.  Thus  the  wages  of  one  man, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  keep  at  work  a  group  of  five,  ten, 
twenty,  are  deducted  from  their  wages."  * 

Mr.  George  Godard,  in  his  book  on  Poverty,  assigns 
the  following  causes  for  poverty.  Insufficient  produc- 
tion of  necessities,  industrial  waste,  unequal  distribution 
of  wealth.  The  latter,  however,  as  he  points  out,  is  the 
chief  cause,  and  even  gives  the  latitude  to  the  other 
causes.  In  conclusion  he  mentions  a  fourth  cause,  pov- 
erty as  a  cause  of  poverty,  which  is  somewhat  paradoxi- 
cal in  form.  Here  the  effect  in  turn  becomes  a  cause. 
Thus,  if  insufficient  production  leads  to  poverty,  poverty 
also  leads  to  insufficient  production.  Laborers,  to  be 

1  Social  Theory,  Bascom,  pp.  232,  233. 


POVERTY— ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE.  125 

efficient,  must  be  intelligent,  well-housed,  and  well-fed. 
The  poorer  the  laborers  the  more , ignorant,  and  conse- 
quently the  less  efficient. 

Again,  if  waste  is  the  cause  of  poverty,  poverty  is  also 
the  cause  of  waste.  Poverty  engenders  improvidence 
and  recklessness.  A  weak  mind  is  not  conducive  to  fore- 
sight and  thrift. 

Once  more,  if  unequal  distribution  produces  poverty, 
poverty  produces  unequal  distribution.  The  poorer  the 
people  are,  the  more  dependent  they  are  and  the  less  able 
to  secure  the  full  value  of  their  toil.  It  is  because  labor- 
ers have  been  separated  from  the  instruments  of  produc- 
tion that  they  are  obliged  to  submit  to  excessive  ex- 
ploitation. The  laborer  possesses  nothing  but  his  labor- 
power  to  sell,  and  must,  of  necessity,  accept  the  price 
fixed  by  his  employer.  It  is  thus  that  this  cause  tends  to 
perpetuate  itself;  poverty  breeds  poverty.  The  unequal 
distribution  c  :  wealth,  which  is  the  essence  of  our  pres- 
et system,  reproduces  the  conditions  which  perpetuate 
this  unequal  distribution.  When  men  are  dispossessed 
of  the  instruments  of  production  and  become  proletar- 
ians, there  is  little  or  no  hope  of  their  ever  regaining 
their  independence.  They  are  obliged  to  compete  with 
each  other  for  an  opportunity  to  earn  a  livelihood,  and 
this  necessity,  caused  by  their  poverty,  results  in  increas- 
ing the  disparity  in  the  distribution  of  wealth.  Thus, 
unequal  distribution,  when  once  established,  tends  to 
aggravate  the  evil.  Poverty  so  weakens  men  in  the  in- 
dustrial conflict  that  they  are  unable  to  secure  their  just 
deserts. 

All  of  these  causes  mentioned  by  Mr.  Godard  are  in- 
herent in  our  present  economic  system.  The  private 
ownership  of  the  instruments  of  production  results  in 
labor  exploitation,  insufficient  production  of  neces- 
sities, waste  and  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth. 


126      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

Private  ownership,  then,  is  the  real  cause  of  poverty,  and 
the  only  way  poverty  can  be  abolished  is  to  make  these 
instruments  of  production  common  property.  This  is 
evident  if  we  examine  the  present  structure  of  society. 

Let  us  look  at  the  make-up  of  modern  society.  In 
the  first  place  we  note  the  capitalist  class  or  non-pro- 
ducers. To  be  sure,  many  capitalists  combine  the  priv- 
ilege they  enjoy  as  capitalists  with  the  office  of  super- 
tendency,  and  if  so,  they  are  entitled  to  remuneration. 
Again,  capitalists  often  perform  useless  labor,  as  the 
manipulation  of  stocks,  but  such  exertion  creates  no 
value.  Their  whole  effort  is  to  appropriate  values  al- 
ready created.  Their  labor  is  not  only  useless  but  dele- 
terious, of  the  same  nature  as  that  of  a  burglar.  No  one 
claims  but  that  the  thief  labors,  and  often  very  hard ;  his 
work  is  performed  in  the  night,  and  amid  great  risk  and 
anxiety.  But  his  whole  effort  is  detrimental  to  society, 
for  he  is  only  endeavoring  to  appropriate  wealth  which 
belongs  to  others.  The  same,  in  effect,  is  the  effort  of 
the  stock  speculator;  he  also  appropriates  the  values 
others  have  created.  This  entire  class  is  a  burden  upon 
society  just  as  paupers  are.  They  produce  nothing  but 
consume  enormously.  One  millionaire  is  a  greater 
burden  upon  society  than  five  hundred  paupers. 

Then  there  are  those  engaged  in  manufacturing. 
Many  of  these  people  work  quite  hard  but  much  of  their 
labor  is  useless.  Those  engaged  in  commerce  and  manu- 
facturing spend  most  of  their  energies  in  fighting  among 
themselves  to  secure  the  largest  portion  of  wealth  which 
they  have  compelled  the  working  class  to  give  up.  This 
constitutes  prodigious  waste.  There  are  many  times 
more  men  engaged  in  the  production  and  distribution  of 
wealth  than  is  necessary.  Under  a  rightly  ordered  sys- 
tem three-fourths  would  be  saved  in  the  realm  of  pro- 
duction and  nine-tenths  in  the  field  of  distribution. 


POVERTY— ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE.  12? 

Think  of  the  useless  stores  and  shops  with  their  useless 
proprietors  and  clerks.  All  of  this  host  of  men  and 
women  are  living  at  the  expense  of  the  real  producers. 

Then  there  is  the  professional  class,  such  as  the  doc- 
tors, artists,  and  literary  men,  although  they  are  useful 
to  society,  still  they  consume  out  of  all  proportion  to 
their  due  share.  There  are  others  such  as  lawyers,  who 
produce  no  wealth  but  are  the  hangers-on  of  the  priv- 
ileged classes.  There  are  many  others  of  this  species, 
such  as  the  thousands  engaged  in  banking,  insurance, 
drumming,  competitive  salesmanship,  advertisers,  can- 
vassers, etc.,  etc.  Here  is  a  host  of  men  and  women  use- 
lessly employed,  who  must  be  supported  by  the  real  pro- 
ducers. 

We  now  come  to  the  real  producing  class.  But  not 
all  labor  is  useful.  Many  laborers  are  engaged  in  pro- 
ducing things  which  only  the  rich  can  buy,  which  can 
minister  only  to  luxury  and  folly,  and  which  people  liv- 
ing manly  and  uncorrupted  lives  would  not  think  of  re- 
quiring. Such  products  are  not  wealth  but  waste. 
Laborers  engaged  in  the  production  of  such  products 
are  not  usefully  employed.  If  ten  men  are  working  on 
a  piece  of  ground  and  are  able  to  live  comfortably  off  the 
product  of  their  toil,  but  by  some  means  one  man  gets 
sole  possession  of  the  land,  and  so  becomes  able  to  ap- 
propriate one-half  of  the  labor  of  the  others,  this  advan- 
tage gives  him  more  than  he  can  consume,  and  so  he 
withdraws  four  of  the  laborers  and  sets  them  to  work  at 
building  him  a  castle  and  pays  them  out  of  his  surplus 
product.  Is  it  not  evident  that  the  remaining  workmen 
will  have  to  labor  twice  as  hard  as  they  did  when  all  were 
engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  ?  There  are  now 
the  same  number  to  consume  necessaries,  but  only  one- 
half  the  number  to  produce  them.  All  laborers,  then, 
engaged  in  ministering  to  the  luxuries  of  the  rich  are 


128      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

useless  and  are  as  much  a  burden  to  be  carried  by  the 
useful  laborers  as  are  the  rich  themselves.  To  these 
must  be  added  the  whole  category  of  domestic  servants, 
who  are  employed  in  ministering  to  the  enjoyment  of 
the  wealthy.  When  we  remember  that  this  whole  struc- 
ture of  idlers  and  useless  laborers  are  supported  by  those 
who  are  really  engaged  in  the  production  of  utilities,  is 
it  any  wonder  that  poverty  exists  ?  Is  there  anything 
strange  about  the  degrading  condition  of  those  who 
toil  ?  And  is  there  any  enigima  about  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  poverty  ?  Is  there  any  one  who  does 
not  see  that  the  poverty  of  the  many  is  caused  by  the 
robbery  and  waste  of  the  few  ?  So  long  as  we  have  a 
privileged  class  who  shirk  their  duty  and  compel  others 
to  do  their  work,  so  long  will  there  be  degradation  and 
poverty. 

But  why  do  laborers  submit  to  this  condition  ?  Sim- 
ply because  the  privileged  class  have  gained  a  monopoly 
of  the  means  of  production  which  is  necessary  to  labor. 
The  laborer  being  unable  to  employ  himself  is  obliged 
to  submit  to  the  conditions  imposed  upon  him.  The  first 
step  in  the  abolition  of  poverty  is  the  abolition  of  the 
parasite  class.  Poverty  will  be  impossible  when  every  man 
is  obliged  to  live  off  his  own  labor  instead  of  the  labor  of 
others.  At  present,  between  the  waste  of  labor-power 
in  mere  idleness  and  its  waste  in  unproductive  work,  but 
a  small  part  of  the  people  are  productively  employed. 
Were  all  usefully  employed  and  the  waste  of  our  compe- 
titive system  eliminated,  but  a  few  hours'  work  would 
be  required  to  produce  an  abundance  for  all.  Abolish 
class  robbery  and  the  problem  is  solved.  "  Whereas  it 
has  been  known  and  declared,"  says  Ruskin,  "  that  the 
poor  have  no  right  to  the  property  of  the  rich,  I  wish 
it  also  to  be  known  and  declared  that  the  rich  have  no 
right  to  the  property  of  the  poor."  Give  to  every  man 


PO I  'EK  T  Y—tTS  CA  USE  AND  CURE.  1 29 

the  full  product  of  his  labor  and  he  will  be  able  to  live  in 
decency  and  plenty. 

But  it  is  said  that  the  poor  are  poor  because  they  are 
not  fitted  to  be  anything  else;  that  the  fittest  survive 
and  that  this  is  the  inexorable  law  of  nature.  Let 
us  look  at  this  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 
What  does  it  mean  ?  It  simply  means  that  a  plant, 
animal,  or  man  that  is  best  fitted  to  survive  un- 
der certain  conditions  will  survive.  It  has  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  quality  of  the  conditions.  Ac- 
cording to  this  law  the  man  who  succeeds  in  a  certain 
society  is  best  fitted  to  that  kind  of  environment.  Thus, 
under  certain  conditions,  one  type  of  man  will  be  best 
fitted  to  survive,  while  under  different  conditions  a  dif- 
ferent type  will  succeed.  In  the  early  days,  when  physi- 
cal strength  was  king,  the  man  best  fitted  to  survive  was 
the  one  with  physical  power  and  endurance.  To-day, 
when  commercialism  is  king,  the  man  who  succeeds  does 
not  require  strength  of  arm  so  much  as  cunning  and 
clearness  of  head.  A  John  L.  Sullivan  is  the  type  of  man 
best  fitted  to  survive  in  ancient  society ;  a  Rockefeller  in 
modern  society.  But  neither  one  of  these  types  touches 
the  moral  qualifications.  Evidently,  then,  the  fittest  has 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  morality.  The  poor,  then,  are 
poor  simply  because  they  are  not  fitted  or  have  not  the 
opportunity  to  succeed  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth  under 
present  conditions.  It  does  not  follow  that  they  are  not 
worthy  of  a  decent  livelihood  or  that  they  might  not 
succeed  under  different  conditions.  The  survival  of  the 
fittest,  under  present  conditions,  does  not  secure  the 
survival  of  the  noblest  and  best,  but  rather  the  reverse. 
Commercialism,  like  physical  combat,  is  a  war,  in  which 
cunning  in  one  instance  and  brutal  force  in  the  other 
succeeds.  In  commerce  Jesus  Christ  would  have  been 
no  match  for  Rockefeller;  in  physical  combat  Buddha 


130    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

would  have  stood  no  show  with  Sullivan,  Now  which 
is  the  best  condition  of  society,  that  which  gives  the 
lowest  type  of  humanity  the  pre-eminence,  or  the  highest 
type  ?  If  the  highest  type  should  succeed,  ought  not  so- 
ciety to  be  so  reconstructed  that  the  noblest  and  best 
qualities  shall  have  full  play  ?  We  have  no  objection 
to  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  only  we  desire 
that  society  shall  be  so  organized  that  the  real  fittest  shall 
survive.  We  desire  such  a  condition  that  the  law  shall 
work  for  good  instead  of  evil. 

The  law,  as  we  have  noted,  insures  the  survival  of 
those  best  adapted  to  the  conditions  under  which  it 
works.  If  the  conditions  are  such  that  the  unscrupulous 
and  unjust  are  given  an  advantage,  then  these  are  the 
ones  best  adapted  to  succeed.  We  object  to  the  present 
industrial  and  social  conditions  for  the  reason  that  it 
makes  the  basest  the  best  fitted  to  survive.  We  wish  to 
establish  an  economic  and  social  environment  under 
which  all  shall  be  "  fit "  and  all  shall  "  survive."  We 
would  so  organize  society  that  none  would  be  pushed  to 
the  wall,  and  that  while  each  would  succeed  in  accordance 
with  his  fitness,  still  the  success  of  one  would  not  mean 
the  failure  of  another.  Socialism  would  reorganize  so- 
ciety on  such  a  basis  as  would  guarantee  the  survival  of 
all  its  members.  It  would  abolish  forever  this  hell  of 
poverty  which  results  from  special  privilege. 

The  cause  of  poverty,  then,  is  our  present  capitalist 
system  of  industry.  It  enables  some  to  live  in  idleness 
and  luxury  by  appropriating  the  wealth  produced  by 
others.  The  private  ownership  of  land  and  capital  con- 
stitutes an  aristocracy  of  the  few.  The  privileges  which 
they  thus  enjoy  as  monopolists  of  the  instruments  of  pro- 
duction enable  them  to  levy  a  tax  or  tribute  upon  pro- 
'iuctive  toil.  The  same  result  was  attained  in  the  olden 
times  by  chattel  slavery  and  feudalism.  The  distinctive 


PO  VER  T  Y—ITS  CA  USE-  AND  CUJiE.  1 3 1 

feature  of  each  of  these  systems  of  injustice  is  the  power 
of  the  non-producers  to  appropriate  the  wealth  created 
by  producers.  Under  former  systems  the  productivity 
of  labor  was  small  and,  consequently,  the  conditions  of 
the  reign  of  peace  and  plenty  were  not  so  propitious. 
But  the  capacity  of  the  modern  system  of  mechanical 
production  is  almost  unlimited.  We  have  indeed  attained 
the  material  basis  for  the  abolition  of  all  poverty. 

Whether  or  not  the  past  with  its  pigmy  tools  of  pro- 
duction could  have  attained  the  ideal  (they  certainly 
could  not  have  realized  a  very  high  standard  of  living  for 
all)  it  is  certain  that  to-day  enough  could  be  produced 
to  enable  all  to  live  in  affluence.  The  capabilities  of  the 
modern  tools  of  production  are  such  that  an  abundance 
is  possible  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child.  This  con- 
dition, although  possible,  is  prevented  by  our  perverse 
system  of  economics.  Poverty  to-day  has  no  excuse  for 
existence,  and  would  be  impossible  were  our  social  sys- 
tem such  as  to  compel  every  man  to  live  by  the  fruit  of 
his  own  industry. 

The  abolition  of  poverty  will  remove  the  cause  of  the 
social  evils,  and  with  the  removal  of  the  cause  the  effects, 
intemperance,  thriftlessness,  improvidence,  etc.,  would 
rapidly  disappear.  Scarcely  a  generation  would  pass  be- 
fore these  social  evils  would  be  eliminated. 

Poverty,  to-day,  is  inherent  in  the  present  industrial 
order.  There  is  but  one  remedy  for  this  condition — 
the  abolition  of  this  cannibalistic  system  of  industry. 

Capitalism  is  the  present  cause  of  poverty.  Socialism 
is  the  only  cure. 


132    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WAGE  SLAVERY  VS.  CHATTEL  SLAVERY. 

SOCIETY  is  an  organism  and,  as  such,  it  has  passed 
through  several  stages  of  development.  As  cannibalism 
disappeared  and  made  room  for  chattel  slavery,  so  chat- 
tel slavery,  in  turn,  disappeared  and  made  room  for  wage 
slavery.  While  these  several  systems  differ  in  some  of 
their  characteristics,  they  nevertheless  have  many  fea- 
tures in  common.  Consequently,  we  find  much  in 
chattel  slavery  that  was  common  to  savagery,  and  much 
in  wage  slavery  that  was  common  to  the  chattel  sys- 
tem. 

Let  us  note  some  of  these  common  characteristics. 
Under  both  systems  of  slavery  labor  is  essential  to  the 
production  of  wealth,  and  the  product,  although  pro- 
duced by  the  slave,  belongs  to  the  master.  Again,  un- 
der both  systems  labor  or  labor-power  is  bought  and 
sold.  Under  chattel  slavery  the  laborer  is  the  commo- 
dity; under  wage  slavery  the  labor-power  is  the  com- 
modity. In  both  instances,  the  presence  of  the  laborer 
is  requisite,  and  the  master,  in  order  to  obtain  the  serv- 
ices must  give  to  the  slave  sufficient  means  to  enable  him 
to  live. 

Thus  far  the  two  systems  are  substantially  the  same, 
but  here  a  difference  comes  in.  Under  chattel  slavery  the 
master  owned  the  workers,  while  under  wage  slavery  he 
only  needs  to  own  that  which  is  necessary  to  the  workers' 
existence.  If  one  owns  that  which  men  must  have,  he 
virtually  owns  the  men  who  must  have  it.  It  is,  then, 


WAGE  SLA  VER  Y  vs.   CHA  TTLE  SLA  VER  Y.     133 

no  longer  necessary  to  own  human  beings  as  chattels ; 
it  is  only  requisite  to  own  the  world's  resources  and 
machinery,  and  economic  serfs  are  at  his  disposal,  The 
ownership  of  the  machinery  of  production  involves  own- 
ership of  the  men  who  must  use  that  machinery.  If  men 
were  not  bound  to  machinery  by  their  bodily  necessities, 
the  various  instruments  of  labor  would  possess  no  value 
whatever.  If  men  did  not  need  the  use  of  land  and 
would  not  consent  to  labor  for  its  owner  for  permission 
to  occupy  it,  land  would  cease  to  be  of  worth. 

We  need  to  thoroughly  grasp  the  fact  that  ownership 
of  the  machinery  of  production — land,  mines,  factories, 
railroads,  etc. — would  have  no  value  whatever  were  not 
human  beings  bound  to  these  instruments  by  their  bod- 
ily necessities.  The  titles  of  this  ownership,  while  nom- 
inally of  things,  is  really  of  men,  women,  and  children. 
Deeds,  mortgages,  stock-shares,  etc.,  would  be  valueless 
but  for  the  fact  that  thousands  of  workers  are  bound  by 
physical  necessities  to  the  land  and  machinery  which 
these  securities  represent,  as  much  as  though  they  were 
riveted  there  by  strong  iron  chains.  These  workers  are 
but  serfs  of  the  field  and  factory,  bound  by  the  pressure 
of  economic  wants  to  compulsory  servitude  to  idle  capi- 
talists. These  capitalists  are  the  "  Masters  of  Bread," 
as  Bellamy  calls  them,  to  whom  the  people  cry,  soliciting 
to  be  made  their  slaves.  To-day  men  are  obliged  to  sell 
their  liberties  in  exchange  for  the  means  of  subsistence. 
The  choice  of  the  chattel  slave  was  between  work  and 
the  lash.  The  choice  of  the  wage  slave  is  between  work- 
ing for  an  employer  and  starvation. 

Under  the  modern  form  of  slavery  there  are  many  ad- 
vantages to  the  slaveholder,  the  modern  capitalist.  In 
fact,  he  has  all  the  advantages  of  slavery  with  none  of 
the  responsibilities.  He  is  not  troubled  with  providing 
for  his  slaves,  or  with  constant  watching  lest  they  escape. 


134      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

The  wage  slave  spends  his  own  subsistence  wage,  wlac!., 
under  chattel  slavery,  the  owner  was  obliged  to  spend  for 
him.  This  method  was  fully  as  desirable  for  the  slave, 
for  the  owner,  having  a  stake  in  the  life  and  health  of 
his  slave,  desired  to  keep  him  in  good  condition.  The 
modern  slave  owner,  on  the  other  hand,  does  not  par- 
ticularly care  whether  his  wage  slave  lives  or  dies,  for 
he  has  no  economic  interest  at  stake  and  there  are  thou- 
sands of  others  to  take  his  place.  It  has  been  truly  said 
that  there  were  no  slave  quarters  in  the  United  States 
so  vile  as  the  tenement  houses  of  the  city  slums,  where 
many  of  the  wage  slaves  are  obliged  to  live. 

Another  advantage  of  the  chattel  slave  over  the  wage 
slave  is  that  the  former  was  always  sure  of  a  master,  and 
consequently  of  his  livelihood.  One  of  the  greatest 
curses  of  modern  slavery  is  the  fear  of  the  slave  that  lie 
will  lose  his  position  of  servitude.  He  well  knows  that 
not  to  be  allowed  to  work  for  a  capitalist  master  means 
starvation.  Many  a  wage  slave  would  gladly  exchange 
his  freedom  to  leave  his  master,  for  a  guarantee  that  his 
master  would  not  discharge  him. 

"  Yes,"  it  may  be  said,  "  all  this  is  true,  but  there  are 
differences  which  tell  in  favor  of  the  modern  system. 
For  instance,  in  chattel  slavery  the  master  had  the  right 
to  lay  his  hands  in  violence  upon  his  slaves  which  the 
employer  does  not  have."  This,  indeed,  is  true.  There 
were  many  instances  where  the  owner  in  anger  maimed 
and  crippled  his  servants,  but  this  is  insignificant  as  com- 
pared with  the  number  of  persons  who  are  uselessly  in- 
jured and  killed  by  modern  industrial  methods.  In  1890 
the  railroad  industry  alone  killed  6,335  persons  and  in- 
jured 29,027  in  the  performance  of  their  industrial  duties. 
The  reason  for  this  wanton  destruction  of  life  is  that 
money  is  preferred  to  human  welfare.  Dividends  are  the 


WAGE  SLA  VER  Y  vs.  CHA  TTLE  SLA  VER  Y.     135 

first  consideration !  Indeed,  chattel  slavery  was  more 
humane  than  wage  slavery. 

"  Well,"  says  our  friend,  "  admitting  your  contention 
here,  there  is  surely  one  point  wherein  the  modern  sys- 
tem is  superior.  Under  chattel  slavery  women  were 
often  subjected  to  the  lusts  of  their  masters."  This  can- 
not be  denied ;  and  surely  it  is  one  of  the  most  revolting 
features  of  chattel  slavery.  But  how  is  it  to-day  ?  Are 
there  no  women,  under  present  conditions,  who  are 
subjected  to  the  lusts  of  their  masters  ?  Would  to  God 
there  were  not  !  But  the  fact  is,  there  are  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  women,  and  even  young  girls,  who 
are  so  reduced  to  poverty  and  obliged  to  work  for  such 
a  pittance,  that  they  must  sell  their  bodies  to  eke  out  a 
mere  existence.  And  we  find  the  modern  slave  owner 
suggesting  this  method  to  the  unfortunate  as  a  means 
of  adding  to  her  scanty  store.  It  is  easy  for  many  to 
see  the  evils  of  chattel  slavery,  but  they  are  too  near  to 
see  clearly  the  results  of  the  wage  system.  No,  wage 
slavery  has  no  cause  for  boasting  over  its  predecessor. 
The  condition  of  the  average  worker  to-day  is  as  abject 
and  degrading  as  that  of  the  chattel  slave.  The  modern 
proletarian  is  as  much  a  slave  as  though  he  were  owned 
in  chattel  on  a  plantation  in  the  South. 

Of  what  does  slavery  consist?  It  consists  in  the  com- 
pulsory using  of  men  by  other  men  for  the  benefit  of 
the  user.  A  slave,  then,  is  one  who  is  forced  to  yield  to 
another  a  part  of  the  product  of  his  toil.  This  was  the 
condition  of  the  negro,  and  it  is  the  condition  of  the 
worker  to-day.  That  the  workingman  is  able  to  change 
his  master  while  the  negro  could  not,  does  not  alter  the 
fact.  The  negro  was  a  slave,  not  because  of  a  certain 
master,  but  because  he  must  yield  a  part  of  the  wealth 
he  produced  to  a  master,  and  it  was  of  no  consequence 
who  the  master  was.  And  so  with  the  modern  working- 


136     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

men.  They  may  desert  one  master  but  they  must  look 
up  another  or  starve,  and  this  necessity  constitutes  their 
slavery.  They,  being  unable  to  employ  themselves,  must 
sell  themselves  into  wage  slavery:  The  intensity  of  this 
slavery  depends  upon  the  amount  of  time  which  the 
workers  are  compelled  to  work  gratuitously  for  others. 
Under  present  conditions,  without  any  command  of  the 
means  of  production,  they  must  labor  the  greater  part  of 
their  time  for  the  benefit  of  some  one  else.  It  is  thus 
that  the  wage-earning  class  are  slaves  to  the  employing 
class.  Laborers  may  change  their  masters  but  they  are 
still  at  the  mercy  of  the  possessing  class,  and  are  obliged 
to  compete  with  one  another  for  a  subsistence  wage. 
All  that  they  earn  in  excess  of  this  living  wage  goes 
gratuitously  into  the  hands  of  others. 

Thus  slavery  still  exists,  although  the  name  has 
changed.  Says  John  Ruskin,  in  Fors  Clavigera,  a  book 
consisting  of  a  collection  of  letters  written  by  the  author 
to  the  laborers  of  Great  Britain:  "Freeman,  indeed'! 
You  are  slaves,  not  to  masters  of  any  strength  or  honor ; 
but  to  the  idlest  talkers  at  that  floral  end  of  Westminster 
Bridge.  Nay,  to  countless  meaner  .masters  than  they. 
For  though,  indeed,  as  early  as  the  year  1 102,  it  was  de- 
creed in  a  council  at  St.  Peter's,  Westminster,  '  that  no 
man  for  the  future  should  presume  to  carry  on  the 
wicked  trade  of  selling  men  in  the  markets,  like  brute 
beasts,  which  hitherto  had  been  the  common  custom  of 
England,'  the  no  less  wicked  trade  of  under-selling  men 
in  the  markets  has  lasted  to  this  day ;  producing  condi- 
tions of  slavery  differing  from  the  ancient  ones  only  in 
being  starved  instead  of  well  fed :  and  besides  this,  a 
state  of  slavery  unheard  of  among  the  nations  till  now, 
has  arisen  with  us.  In  all  former  slaveries,  Egyptian, 
Algerine,  Saxon,  and  American,  the  slave's  complaint 
has  been  of  compulsory  work.  But  the  modern  Politico- 


VAGE  SLA  VER  Y  vs.  CHA  TTLE  SLA  VER  Y.     1 37 

Economic  slave  is  a  new  and  far  more  injured  species, 
condemned  to  Compulsory  Idleness." 

This  compulsory  idleness  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  worst 
features  of  modern  slavery.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go 
into  details ;  all  are  familiar  with  the  results.  The  very 
condition  of  modern  production  is  a  reserve  army  of 
laborers  which  can  be  drafted  onto  machines  when  re- 
quired and  set  adrift  when  the  demand  slackens.  Success 
in  modern  industry  depends  upon  the  ability  to  quickly 
respond  to  the  demand  for  new  products.  In  the  days 
of  chattel  slavery  capitalist  production  on  a  large  scale 
was  impossible,  simply  because  it  was  unprofitable  for 
the  chattel  slave  owner  to  keep  more  slaves  than  he  could 
profitably  use  all  the  time.  He  could  not  afford  a  reserve 
army  of  labor,  for  he  must  feed  and  care  for  his  laborers 
whether  they  worked  or  not.  This  difficulty  is  overcome 
by  capitalism.  The  wage  slave  owner  has  improved  upon 
the  old  method  of  property  in  human  beings.  He  found 
that  it  was  a  useless  expense  to  own  workers  as  chattels, 
for  this  necessitated  his  caring  for  them  and  involved  a 
severe  loss  in  case  of  death.  He  saw  that  the  same  results 
of  slavery  could  be  fully  secured  by  simply  securing  the 
means  of  production.  The  revolution  of  modern  indus- 
try, then,  gives  to  the  capitalist,  without  expense,  an  in- 
dustrial reserve  army,  who  can  only  secure  employment 
through  his  grace.  This  secures  for  the  employer  cheap 
labor,  for  laborers  having  nothing  but  their  labor-power 
to  sell,  and  consequently  being  unable  to  employ  them- 
selves, must  compete  with  each  other  for  an  opportunity 
to  earn  a  livelihood.  This  is  the  condition  thrust  upon 
labor  by  competitive  industry,  a  condition  which  will 
remain  so  long  as  labor  is  a  mere  commodity.  The 
laborer  must  lift  himself  out  of  the  category  of  potatoes 
and  beef,  turnips  and  squash.  So  long  as  his  labor- 
power  remains  a  commodity  which  he  is  obliged  to  sell 


138     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

to  another  he  is  not  a  free  being.  He  is  simply  a  slave 
to  a  master,  and  from  morning  to  night  he  is  as  much  a 
bondsman  as  any  negro  ever  was  below  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  before  the  war.  The  lash  of  hunger  and  the 
whip  of  the  black  list,  often  put  on  the  laborer  by  capital- 
ism if  he  dares  to  assert  his  manhood,  points  the  way  to 
misery  and  suffering  for  himself  and  those  dependent 
on  him.  Slavery  is  not  yet  abolished.  Slaves  are 
cheaper  now  and  do  more  work  than  at  any  time  in  the 
world's  history.  The  very  principle  of  subjection  which 
ruled  the  chattel  slave,  rules  in  the  wage  system.  There 
can  be  no  freedom  or  liberty  so  long  as  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem, with  its  wage  slavery,  exists.  The  private  owner- 
ship of  the  land  and  the  tools  with  which  to  work  means, 
for  those  not  possessing  these  instruments  of  labor,  eco- 
nomic slavery.  This  system  must  be  abolished  if  free- 
dom and  liberty  are  ever  again  to  become  the  watch- 
words of  American  workingmen. 

Americans  are  prone  to  prate  about  their  liberties. 
They  have  as  Carlyle  says :  "  The  notion  that  a  man's 
liberty  consists  in  giving  his  vote  at  election-hustings, 
and  saying,  '  Behold  now  I  too  have  my  twenty- 
thousandth  part  of  a  Talker  in  our  National  Palaver. 
.  .  .  This  liberty  turns  out,  before  it  has  long  continued 
in  action,  with  all  men  flinging  up  their  caps  round  it, 
to  be  for  the  Working  Millions  a  liberty  to  die  by  want 
of  food;  for  the  idle  Thousands  and  Units,  alas,  a  still 
more  fatal  liberty  to  live  in  want  of  work;  to  have  no 
earnest  duty  to  do  in  this  God's-World  any  more.  What 
becomes  of  a  man  in  such  a  predicament  ?  Earth's 
Laws  are  silent ;  and  Heaven's  speak  in  a  voice  which  is 
not  heard.  No  work,  and  the  ineradicable  need  of  work, 
gives  rise  to  new  very  wondrous  life-philosophies,  new 
very  wondrous  life-practices  !  " 

This  wage  system  which  deprives  men  of  the  oppor- 


WAGE  SLA  TKR  Y  vs.  CHA  TTLE  SLA  V ER  Y.     I  39 

tunity  to  work  must  be  abolished.  All  Socialists  are 
pledged  to  secure  its  abolition  and  the  emancipation  of 
labor.  They  may  be  called  cranks  and  fanatics,  but  these 
appellations  have  been  applied  to  every  reformer  in  all 
ages.  Remember,  it  was  said  of  Jesus,  "  He  hath  a 
devil,  and  is  mad;  why  hear  ye  him:"  This  was  only 
the  Jewish  way  of  calling  him  a  crank  or  fanatic.  The 
term  "  Christian  "  was  given  in  derision  to  the  early  dis- 
ciples, yet  no  name  to-day  conveys  greater  honor. 

Do  we  not  see  the  same  thing  to-day  ?  Are  not  those 
who  wish  to  abolish  wage  slavery  vehemently  denounced 
by  the  upholders  of  our  present  system  ?  History  is 
simply  repeating  itself.  The  men  who  stand  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  wage  slave  are  often  treated  with  the 
same  contempt  and  opprobrium  as  those  who  declared 
for  the  emancipation  of  the  chattel  slave.  As  the  chattel 
slave  owner  looked  upon  the  abolitionist  as  a  dangerous 
fanatic,  so  the  wage  slave  owner  looks  upon  the  Social- 
ist. But  right  and  justice  will  triumph.  Chattel  slavery 
was  older  than  history  but  it  has  been  abolished.  So 
wage  slavery  will  be  abolished,  just  as  soon  as  the  con- 
science of  the  people  is  aroused  to  its  iniquity. 

Of  the  three  systems  of  social  injustice,  chattel 
slavery,  serfdom  and  wage  slavery,  the  latter  will  surely 
be  of  the  shortest  duration.  The  laborers  to-day  have 
it  within  their  power  to  put  an  end  to  this  vicious  order, 
and  they  are  beginning  to  realize  that  the  parasitical  and 
exploiting  class,  who  live  in  idleness  by  extracting  rent, 
interest,  and  profit  from  labor's  product,  are  useless,  and 
exist  as  mere  pensioners  on  productive  toil.  Private 
property  in  the  instruments  of  production  will  be  as 
surely  abolished  as  private  property  in  human  beings  has 
been. 

We  have  done  well  by  abolishing  chattel  slavery  but 
we  will  not  rest  until  this  equally  accursed  system  of 
wage  slavery  is  blotted  from  our  land. 


140      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RENT   AND    INTEREST. 

WE  are  to  consider  in  this  chapter  the  question  of  rent 
and  interest.  Let  us  begin  with  rent. 

Rent  is  usually  considered  in  two  aspects :  first,  the 
rent  of  land  where  free  land  remains;  second,  the  rent 
where  all  land  is  appropriated.  Rent  in  the  first  instance 
refers  to  conditions  in  a  comparatively  new  country  and 
is  usually  defined  by  economists  as  the  difference  in  the 
product  between  the  best  and  the  poorest  land  in  culti- 
vation. 

Let  me  illustrate.  Suppose  in  a  certain  community 
the  best  land  yields  a  yearly  product  of  $1,000  and  the 
poorest  land  in  cultivation  but  $500.  The  owner  of  the 
more  fertile  land  would  be  able  to  secure  $500  a  year 
rent  for  the  use  of  his  land ;  that  is,  a  man  without  land 
could  as  well  pay  him  $500  for  its  use,  and  much  better, 
than  to  take  other  land  whose  productivity  is  but  half 
as  great.  This  $500  rent  would  enable  the  owner  to  live 
in  idleness,  it  being  a  reward  for  his  pre-emption  of  the 
soil.  But  if  all  the  land  which  yields  $500  is  appropri- 
ated and  a  man  comes  to  the  community  and  wishes  to 
remain  there  he  would  be  obliged  to  pre-empt  land 
whose  productivity,  say,  is  but  $100  a  year.  As  the 
population  increases  the  rent  of  the  other  lands  will  in- 
crease to  the  difference  between  the  best  and  this  poorest 
land  which  has  come  into  cultivation.  The  first  land 
owner  would  be  able  to  secure  $900  rent  and  the  second 
could  let  out  his  farm  for  $400  and  so  become  a  pen- 


RENT  AND  INTEREST.  141 

sioner  himself.  Now  if  other  proletarians  appear,  and 
one  is  wise  enough  to  invent  some  means  whereby  he 
can  increase  the  productivity  of  the  soil,  say,  one-half, 
he  can  secure  a  sublet  from  our  first  tenant  and  afford 
to  pay  him  the  full  rent  of  $1000.  This  enables  our  first 
tenant  to  pay  the  owner  $900  and  live  upon  the  $100 
himself,  it  being  all  he  could  make  by  working  the  farm. 
But  the  inventor  makes  the  land  yield  $1,500  by  his  im- 
proved devices,  which  are  soon  adopted  by  all  the  land- 
lords and  tenants,  thus  enabling  them  to  increase  the 
rent  or  sublet  their  property,  and  so  join  the  growing 
class  of  parasites.  But  here  note  that  this  last  increase 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  margin  of  cultivation. 
Land  being  all  appropriated  rent  would  be  determined, 
not  by  what  the  proletarian  could  do  on  land  which  he 
might  secure  at  the  margin,  but  wholly  on  his  necessi- 
ties. As  the  number  of  proletarians,  who  must  have 
access  to  the  land  or  starve,  increases,  the  share  of  the 
product  which  one  will  consent  to  give  to  the  owner  in- 
creases until  the  amount  retained  by  the  worker  is  barely 
sufficient  to  keep  body  and  soul  together.  But  the  pro- 
letarians are  still  on  the  increase  and  as  the  tenants  have 
not  time  or  strength  to  exhaust  the  full  productivity  of 
the  soil  and  the  proletarians  cannot  employ  themselves, 
they  finally  sell  their  labor-power  to  the  tenants,  who  are 
ready  buyers,  as  they  are  able  to  make  a  profit  on  the 
labor.  The  proletarian  thus  sells  himself  into  bondage. 
This  is  the  economic  condition  to-day.  Whether  the 
Ricardian  theory  of  the  origin  of  rent  is  strictly  true  or 
not,  the  fact  remains  that  the  land,  in  all  civilized  coun- 
tries, has  been  appropriated.  Thus  the  private  ownership 
of  land  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  degradation  of  labor. 

No  man  has  a  right  to  the  private  ownership  of  land. 
No  man  has  a  right  to  that  which  is  not  the  product  of 
his  own  toil.  Land  is  not  the  product  of  human  labor. 


142      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

The  original  titles  to  all  lands  rests  upon  conquest  and 
theft.  Because  one  has  bought  land  and  paid  for  it  does 
not  remedy  the  evil ;  the  person  from  whom  he  bought 
it  had  no  right  to  sell  it,  for  the  reason  that  he  bought  it 
under  like  conditions.  If  a  man  steals  a  watch  and  sells 
it  to  another  and  it  passes  through  a  dozen  different 
hands,  ownership  is  not  established  by  the  transactions. 
If  some  one  comes  forward  and  claims  the  property,  and 
is  able  to  establish  his  claim,  the  law  returns  the  watch 
to  the  rightful  owrer.  No  reason  can  be  given  for  the 
private  ownership  of  'and  which  will  not  apply  equally 
well  to  the  air  or  sea.  No  one  has  a  right  to  the  owner- 
ship of  these,  because  they  are  not  the  product  of  human 
labor.  They  are  the  free  gifts  of  nature.  This  wrong 
necessitated  by  private  ownership  must  cease.  Socialism 
would  not  allow  men  through  private  ownership  to 
longer  appropriate  the  laboi  of  others.  All  rent  is  sim- 
ply unpaid  labor.  It  is  simply  a  tax  or  tribute  which  the 
owner  of  the  land  is  enabled  to  levy  upon  the  wealth 
which  the  laborer  creates.  Doe*  the  landlord  earn  the 
rent  ?  No.  If  he  owns  a  farm,  the  farmer  works  and 
raises  the  crops  out  of  which  rerit  is  paid.  If  he  owns 
a  house,  the  tenant  works  for  others  and  earns  the 
money  with  which  he  pays  the  rent.  Surely  the  owner 
is  not  entitled  to  more  than  will  enable  him  to  keep  the 
property  intact.  All  in  excess  of  that  rerts  upon  priv- 
ilege. 

The  same  is  true  of  interest.  Interest  is  money  paid 
for  the  use  of  money.  But  where  does  interest  come 
from  ?  Money  surely  does  not  grow  money ;  oire  must 
work  for  it.  The  man  who  receives  it  does  net  work  for 
it,  although,  possibly,  he  may  have  worked  for  the  prin- 
cipal. The  point  to  be  noted  is,  that  interest,  like  rent, 
is  not  earned  by  him  who  receives  it.  The  ownership  of 
money,  like  the  ownership  of  land,  gives  to  the  possessor 


REN T  A ND  INTERES  T.  143 

the  privilege  of  taxing  the  labor  of  others.  No  one  has 
a  right  10  rent  and  interest,  because  it  violates  the  fun- 
damental principle  upon  which  the  right  of  all  property 
rests,  that  of  individual  labor. 

There  have  been  many  theories  put  forward,  by  the 
apologists  of  the  present  order  in  behalf  of  interest. 
Four  reasons  are  usually  assigned  in  justification  of  the 
same. 

1.  Wages  of  superintendence.    Certainly  if  a  capitalist 
performs  tne  functions  of  superintending  and  so  becomes 
a  labojer.  he  should  receive  compensation  for  his  labor 
performed.    The  remuneration,  however,  is  a  reward  for 
labor,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  interest.    The  capital- 
ist has  simply  combined  his  office  of  capitalist  with  that 
of  superintendent,  and  so  can  legitimately  claim  a  re- 
ward for  his  effort  like  any  other  laborer.    But  this  in  no 
way  accounts  for  what  he  appropriates  as  capitalist.    A 
capitalist  is  a  man  who  possesses  wealth  which  brings 
him  in  an  income  without  personal  exertion.    A  capital- 
ist, as  such,  is  a  mere  interest  receiver.     Most  of  the 
businesses  of  to-day  are  in  the  form  of  joint-stock  com- 
panies where  the  stockholders  cannot  even  put  up  the 
claim  of  superintendency.    The  individual  capitalist  owns 
stock  in  a  score  of  concerns  in  various  trades  and  at 
different  places,  trades  of  which  he  knows  nothing  and 
in  places  where  he  has  never  been.     Economists  must 
be  hard  pushed  when  they  try  to  excuse  interest  on  the 
supposition  of  wages  of  superintendence. 

2.  Compensation  for  risk.    This  is  often  put  forward 
as  an  excuse  for  interest.    Suppose  a  man  puts  $10,000 
in  the  bank.    Is  his  interest  payment  for  risk  ?    Hardly ! 
In  fact  he  places  his  money  there  just  because  he  believes 
it  the  very  safest  place  to  put  it.     Neither  is  the  excuse 
valid  in  reference  to  money  invested  in  business  enter- 
prises, for  the  gains  of  the  capitalists  far  exceed  their 


144     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

losses.  Those  who  put  forward  this  apology  for  interest 
overlook  this  fact  and  argue  as  though  there  were  but 
one  capitalist  concerned.  But  in  considering  the  ques- 
tion of  interest  we  must  consider  the  whole  class  of  in- 
terest receivers,  and  when  we  do  this  we  find  that  the 
aggregate  profit  is  immeasurably  more  than  the  aggre- 
gate loss.  Consequently,  from  the  standpoint  of  risk, 
there  is  no  reason  why  this  class  should  be  compensated 
by  the  payment  of  interest.  As  a  class  they  run  no  risk 
and  suffer  no  loss. 

3.  The  reward  of  abstinence.     This  is  another  effort 
on  the  part  of  our  friends  to  excuse  this  injustice.   Inter- 
est is  called  the  reward  of  abstinence,  but  one  cannot 
help  feeling  if  the  man  did  not  have  his  $10,000  in  the 
bank,  he  would  have  to  be  more  abstinent  than  he  is 
now,  and  no  one  would  think  of  rewarding  him  for  it. 
This  point  is  well  brought  out  by  Mr.  Ruskin  in  Fors 
Clavigera,  after  which  he  says :    "  Abstinence  may,  in- 
deed, have  its  reward,  nevertheless ;  but  not  by  increase 
of  what  we  abstain  from,  unless  there  be  a  law  of  growth 
for  it,  unconnected  with  our  abstinence.     '  You  cannot 
have  your  cake  and  eat  it.'    Of  course  not ;   and  if  you 
don't  eat  it,  you  have  your  cake ;   but  not  a  cake  and  a 
half." 

4.  Payment  for  services  rendered.  This  is  the  principal 
reason  given  for  rent  and  interest,  so  I  have  reserved  its 
consideration  until  the  last.    That  this  apology,  like  the 
others,  is  without  foundation,  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  the  service  rendered  is  reciprocal.     It  is  a  question 
who  renders  the  greater  service,  the  lender  or  the  bor- 
rower.   Capital  will  soon  decay  unless  in  productive  use. 
The  borrower  is  necessary  as  a  preserver  of  capital.  The 
laborer  keeps  capital  intact  by  perpetual  reproduction. 
If  a  man  allows  his  factory,  machine,  or  land  to  remain 
idle  it  soon  deteriorates.    It  is  only  by  perpetual  repro- 


RENT  AND  INTEREST.  145 

duction  that  capital  is  preserved.  Were  labor  to  with- 
draw from  the  field,  the  fortunes  owned  by  non-pro- 
ducers would  soon  diminish.  Laborers,  then,  by  taking 
capital  and  keeping  it  intact,  render  as  great  a  service  to 
the  capitalist  as  capitalists  do  to  laborers.  There  is  no 
more  reason  that  laborers  should  pay  the  capitalists  than 
that  capitalists  should  pay  the  laborers,  nor  as  much.  Of 
the  two,  the  laborers  could  get  along  much  better  with- 
out the  aid  of  the  capitalist's  money,  than  the  capitalists 
could  without  the-  services  of  the  laborers. 

None  of  these  reasons  given  are  satisfactory.  They 
are  evidently  designed  to  patch  up  the  present  contradic- 
tory system  of  economics.  Socialists  give  the  only  true 
reason  for  interest,  and  also  point  out  how  the  custom 
came  to  be  regarded  as  legitimate. 

In  the  Bible,  interest,  which  is  called  usury,  is  regarded 
as  a  great  evil.  It  was  forbidden  Israelites  in  their  deal- 
ings with  each  other  and,  in  the  case  of  poverty,  it  was 
forbidden  even  to  strangers.  In  Leviticus  xxv.  35-37, 
we  read  :  "  And  if  thy  brother  be  waxen  poor,  and  fallen 
in  decay  with  thee ;  then  thou  shalt  relieve  him :  yea, 
though  he  be  a  stranger,  or  a  sojourner;  that  he  may 
live  with  thee. 

"  Take  thou  no  usury  of  him,  or  increase :  but  fear 
thy  God ;  that  thy  brother  may  live  with  thee. 

;'  Thou  shalt  not  give  him  thy  money  upon  usury, 
nor  lend  him  thy  victuals  for  increase." 

Interest,  then,  was  originally  looked  upon  as  sin.  Why 
is  it  that  interest  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  legitimate  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  is  to  be  found  in  the  purpose 
to  which  money  is  put.  Money  to-day  is  borrowed  for 
the  purpose  of  engaging  in  some  business.  It  enables  its 
possessor  to  establish  an  industry,  and  thus  becomes  a 
means  of  exploiting  labor-power.  If  a  man  borrows 
money  for  the  purpose  of  making  more  money  it  is  but 


146      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

fair  that  he  should  pay  for  its  use.  This  is  the  reason  thai 
interest  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  proper.  The  direct 
employer  of  labor,  the  "  captain  of  industry,"  is  the  man 
to  whom  the  money-lender  renders  service  by  enabling 
him  to  extend  his  operations,  and  obtain  larger  profits 
by  the  use  of  the  borrowed  capital.  If  a  man  by  bor- 
rowing money  is  enabled  to  become  an  exploiter  of  labor, 
he  ought,  of  course,  to  divide  the  spoils.  Interest,  under 
such  conditions,  is  but  a  fair  division  of  the  booty.  The 
whole  process,  however,  is  an  outrage  upon  labor,  but  so 
long  as  capital  remains  in  private  hands  the  evil  will  ex- 
ist. Interest  is  simply  a  tax  or  tribute  which  the  owners 
of  capital  are  enabled,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
levy  upon  productive  toil.  Both  interest  and  rent  are 
the  remuneration  of  private  ownership  in  the  instruments 
of  production,  and  will  disappear  when  these  instruments 
become  social  property.  Interest  and  rent  are  eating 
up  the  wealth  of  the  nation.  The  laborer  is  obliged  to 
surrender  to  these  robbers,  rent  and  interest  together 
with  profit,  all  the  product  he  creates  except  the  barest 
necessitates.  Here  note  that  landlords  and  capitalists 
working  under  this  anarchical  system  are  not  to  be  too 
severely  censured.  It  is  the  system  that  compels  injustice 
and  should  be  abolished.  Even  should  the  individual 
'andlord  or  capitalist  desire  to  rectify  the  evils  from 
vvhich  we  suffer,  he  would  be  powerless.  He  might  take 
less  rent  or  a  lower  rate  of  interest,  but  in  capitalist  pro- 
duction this  would  only  benefit  the  employing  capitalist 
who  would  thus  be  able  to  keep  more  of  the  appropria- 
tion himself.  As  far  as  the  laborer  is  concerned  it  is  of  no 
matter  whether  his  surplus  labor  is  all  pocketed  by  the 
employing  capitalist,  or  whether  the  latter  is  obliged  to 
divide  up,  under  the  name  of  rent  and  interest,  with  third 
parties.  It  is  the  private  ownership  of  land  and  capital 
that  enables  their  owners  to  get  their  respective  shares 


RENT  AND  INTEREST.  Iv, 

from  the  surplus-value  which  the  employing  capitalist 
has  extracted  from  labor.  The  Socialist  recognizes  the 
source  of  this  appropriation,  and  so  does  not  expect  nor 
advocate  the  abolition  of  rent  and  interest  so  long  as  the 
present  system  continues.  To  advocate,  as  some  do,  the 
abolition  of  rent  and  interest,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
private  ownership  of  land  and  capital  is  absurd.  Even 
were  it  possible  it  would  be  of  no  particular  benefit  to  the 
industrial  laborers;  it  would  simply  mean  that  the  em- 
ploying capitalist  could  get  the  means  of  exploitation 
without  cost,  and  so  could  pocket  the  whole  surplus  him- 
self. But  rent  and  interest  are  part  and  parcel  of  the 
private  ownership  of  the  means  of  production,  and  will 
remain  so  long  as  these  instruments  are  privately  owned. 
When  land  and  capital  become  collective  property,  rent 
and  interest,  as  well  as  profits,  will  naturally  and  neces- 
sarily disappear,  and  labor  will  receive  the  full  product 
of  its  toil. 


14*      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE    LAW    OF    WAGES. 

A  SCIENTIFIC  law  of  wages  must  afford  an  explanation 
of  all  wage  phenomena.  The  term  wages  has  no  mean- 
ing except  under  wage  conditions ;  that  is,  under  condi- 
tions where  the  laborers  receive  a  stipulated  sum  for 
their  services.  If  a  man  works  for  himself  and  sells  or 
consumes  the  product  of  his  labor,  that  which  he  re- 
ceives would  not  be  wages,  but  the  result,  earnings,  or 
proceeds  of  his  labor.  But  the  man  who  works  for  an- 
other does  not  own  the  product  of  his  labor,  but  receives 
for  his  services  a  stipulated  sum  which  has  little  or 
nothing  to  do  with  the  product. 

These  two  instances  are  governed  by  entirely  different 
principles.  In  one  case  the  man  works  for  himself  and 
receives  the  whole  product  of  his  labor;  in  the 
other  he  works  for  an  employer  and  receives  only  the 
value  of  his  labor-power,  which  is  properly  called  wages. 
We  must  not  confound  these  two  kinds  of  income,  one 
of  which  is  contingent,  the  other  stipulated.  By  wages  is 
meant  the  value  of  labor-power,  and  there  can  be  no 
wages  unless  labor-power  is  bought  and  sold.  The  law 
of  wages,  then,  is  the  law  of  the  economic  value  or  price 
of  labor-power. 

We  cannot  be  too  careful  in  the  use  of  this  term 
"  wages."  It  is  a  technical  term  and  signifies  in  eco- 
nomics that  portion  of  the  product  of  labor  that  the  capi- 
talist allows  the  workingman  to  keep.  It  is  that  portion 
of  the  laborer's  product  which  capital  does  not  fleece 


THE  LA  W  OF  WAGES.  149 

from  him.  By  a  strict  use  of  this  term  many  of  the 
dangers  in  economics  will  be  avoided. 

As  labor-power  is  a  commodity  and  wages  but  the  price 
of  labor-power,  the  rate  of  wages  will  be  governed  by  the 
same  law  which  governs  the  price  of  all  commodities. 
We  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapters  that  prices  are 
regulated  by  the  average  cost  of  production.  The  value 
of  a  commodity,  which,  under  normal  conditions,  deter- 
mines prices,  depends  upon  the  amount  of  social  labor- 
time  embodied  in  it.  Its  cost  of  production  is  the  aver- 
age cost,  or  average  amount  of  social  labor,  which  is 
necessary  for  its  production  or  reproduction.  So  the 
value  of  labor-power  is  determined,  as  with  every  other 
commodity,  by  the  labor-time  necessary  for  its  produc- 
tion or  reproduction.  As  labor-power  is  but  a  capacity 
of  the  individual,  its  production  presupposes  his  exist- 
ence and,  consequently,  the  production  of  labor-power 
consists  in  the  production  or  maintenance  of  the  laborer. 
Hence  the  exchange-value  of  labor-power  (its  price)  is 
the  value  of  the  means  of  subsistence  necessary  for  the 
.laborer's  maintenance,  and  this  will  vary  with  the  value 
of  these  means,  or  with  the  quantity  of  labor  necessary 
for  their  production.  These  means  of  subsistence  imply 
not  only  the  physical  requisites,  but  also  such  other 
needs  as  are  required  to  maintain  the  laborer  in  health 
and  strength  of  both  body  and  mind  and  enable  him  to 
maintain  himself  in  his  normal  state.  But  as  the  laborer 
is  mortal,  the  means  of  subsistence  must  suffice  to  en- 
able him  to  perpetuate  himself,  to  maintain  his  family, 
and  raise  children  to  take  his  place  when  he  has  gone. 

Ricardo  says :  "  The  natural  price  of  labor  is  that 
price  which  is  necessary  to  enable  the  laborers,  one 
with  another,  to  subsist  and  to  perpetuate  their  race, 
without  either  increase  or  diminution.  .  .  .  The  natural 
prict  of  labor,  therefore,  depends  on  the  price  of  the 


I$0    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

food,  necessaries,  and  conveniences  required  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  laborer  and  his  family."  These  necessities 
vary  in  different  countries  and  at  different  periods,  but 
as  Marx  says,  "  In  a  given  country,  at  a  given  period, 
the  average  quantity  of  the  means  of  subsistence  neces- 
sary for  the  laborer  is  practically  known." 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  in  economics  when  we  use 
the  term  "  law  "  it  is  used  to  signify  general  tendencies. 
By  law  of  wages  we  mean  the  law  which  determines  the 
tendency  of  wages  to  move  in  a  given  direction.  As  al- 
ready seen,  the  law  of  wages  is  that,  under  normal  con- 
ditions, the  price  of  labor-power  (wages)  always  tends 
toward  the  cost  of  producing  labor-power,  the  laborer's 
maintenance.  The  cost  of  the  laborer  is  the  cost  of  his 
living  and,  other  things  being  the  same,  his  living  is  de- 
termined by  the  number  of  his  habitual  needs. 

Here,  note,  that  wages,  as  affected  by  demand  and 
supply,  rises  and  falls,  above  and  below  a  certain  level. 
But  when  supply  and  demand  balance  this  oscillation 
ceases.  When  this  equilibrium  is  established,  then  the 
price  of  labor-power  is  its  real  value.  These  oscillations, 
under  normal  conditions,  during  a  period  of  time,  say, 
one  year,  compensate  each  other,  thus  leaving  an  average 
magnitude.  To  be  sure  the  price  of  labor-power  may 
fall  below  this  level,  but  if  it  does  it  falls  below  its  value. 
As  Marx  says:  "  If  the  price  of  labor-power  fall  to  this 
minimum  it  falls  below  its  value,  since  under  such  cir- 
cumstances it  can  be  maintained  and  developed  only  in 
a  crippled  state.  But  the  value  of  every  commodity  is 
determined  by  the  labor-time  requisite  to  turn  it  out  so 
as  to  be  of  normal  quality." 

I  wish  in  passing  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that 
this  normal  quality  of  labor  is  constantly  depreciating* 
that  is,  less  and  less  skill  and  ability  are  required  of  the 
laborer.  In  modern  production  skilled  labor  has  been 


'THE  LAW  OP    WAGES.  151 

replaced  by  unskilled,  men  by  women,  and  women  by 
children.  The  skill  and  dexterity  of  the  workman  has 
been  transferred  to  the  machine.  This  reduces  the  qual- 
ity of  the  labor-power  required  and  depreciates  its  value 
in  like  proportion.  It  is  thus  that  the  value  of  labor- 
power  is  falling  toward  the  minimum  limit,  the  limit  of 
bare  subsistence,  the  means  of  subsistence  that  are  physi- 
cally indispensable. 

That  this  is  the  law  of  wages  may  be  seen  by  even  a 
superficial  examination  of  facts.  We  find  that  a  per- 
manent change  in  the  cost  of  the  means  of  subsistence, 
or  cost  of  living,  is  always  followed  by  a  corresponding 
change  in  wages.  If,  however,  the  change  in  the  cost  of 
living  be  sudden  and  artificial,  it  does  not  follow  that 
wages  would  immediately  change  in  the  same  ratio,  but 
they  would  begin  to  move  in  that  direction,  and  if  the 
rise  or  fall  become  permanent,  the  wages  will  finally  be 
adjusted  to  them.  We  see,  then,  that  variation  between 
wages  and  the  cost  of  living  cannot  become  permanent; 
they  are  merely  accidental,  and  exist  only  so  long  as  is 
necessary  for  wages  to  become  adjusted  to  the  new 
prices.  Thus  wages  rise  when  prices  rise,  and  fall  when 
prices  fall.  The  economic  history  of  the  i6th,  I7th,  and 
1 8th  centuries  evidences  this  fact.  Although  nominal 
(money)  wages  rose  more  than  fourfold,  there  was  no 
rise  in  real  wages :  i.e.,  the  social  well-being  of  the  la- 
borer. The  reason  why  wages  always  lag  behind  prices 
is,  that  the  former  is  less  susceptible  to  sudden  influences 
or  artificial  causes.  So  true  is  this  that  we  often  see 
prices  rise  and  fall  again  without  any  change  taking 
place  in  wages. 

That  wages  are  determined  by  the  cost  of  living  is 
evident  upon  every  hand.  This  law  furnishes  an  ex- 
planation of  the  variations  in  different  industries,  locali- 
ties, and  countries,  as  well  as  different  periods  in  the 


152     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM, 

same  country.  It  is  well  known  that  wages  in  the  same 
industry  are  higher  in  cities  than  in  towns,  higher  in 
manufacturing  industries  than  in  agriculture,  higher  for 
men  than  for  women.  The  reason  for  this  is  the  differ- 
ence in  the  cost  of  living  in  these  different  localities  and 
among  the  different  classes.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
scale  of  wages  in  New  York  City  is  higher  than  in 
Yonkers.  Why  ?  Because  living  is  cheaper  in  the  latter 
place.  Rents  are  lower  and  wages  drop  accordingly.  If 
we  examine  the  wages  per  day  paid  to  masons,  carpen- 
ters, and  factory  hands  in  the  same  locality,  we  shall  find 
a  great  difference.  While  their  cost  of  living  is  about 
the  same,  the  former  are  exposed  to  the  weather  and 
work  fewer  days  in  the  year,  consequently,  while  the  rate 
per  day  is  higher,  their  actual  income  per  year  is  about 
the  same.  So  if  we  were  to  examine  the  wages  in  differ- 
ent countries  we  should  find  the  same  law  holds  true 
In  India  and  China  we  should  find  the  daily  wages  but 
6  cents  to  10  cents,  because  this  is  sufficient  in  these 
countries  to  furnish  a  living.  Much  more  evidence  might 
be  adduced  in  support  of  this  law,  but  this  must  suffice. 
This  law,  that  wages  are  governed  by  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction, is  scientific,  because  it  explains  all  the  facts, 
and  there  is  no  other  theory  of  wages  that  meets  this 
scientific  test. 

Here  we  come  to  an  important  point  that  needs  to  be 
noted.  We  have  found  that  the  general  rate  of  wages 
is  determined  by  the  cost  of  living,  and  this  cost  refers, 
not  to  the  single  individual,  but  always  to  the  family. 
But  this  does  not  mean  that  the  wages  of  the  worker  in 
each  family  are  determined  by  that  particular  family's 
cost  of  living.  Were  the  individual  standard — the  cost 
of  living  of  each  family — to  determine  wa^es,  there 
would  be  no  general  rate  of  wages  in  any  class  or  in- 
dustry, because  the  various  expenditures  of  the  family 


THE  LAW  OF  WAGP:S.  153 

would  cause  a  variation  in  the  income  of  the  family,  thus 
making  the  expenditures  of  each  family  a  law  of  wages 
unto  itself.  It  is  evidently  not  the  individual  cost,  but 
the  social  or  average  cost  per  family,  that  determines  the 
standard.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  social  standard — the 
average  cost  of  living — and  not  the  individual  standard, 
that  regulates  wages.  As  in  the  production  of  commodi- 
ties, it  is  the  social  labor  and  not  the  individual  labor 
that  determines  values;  so  in  the  production  of  labor- 
power,  it  is  the  social  standard  of  living  not  the  individ- 
ual standard  that  determines  wages.  The  same  law  gov- 
erns both  wages  and  prices ;  both  are  determined  by  the 
social  cost  of  production.  This  explains  why  men  of 
various  trades  working  under  uniform  conditions  get 
the  same  pay,  whether  they  are  married  or  single,  have 
large  or  small  families,  are  penurious  or  extravagant.  It 
also  explains  why  families  which  are  the  largest  and 
have  the  highest  tastes,  whose  individual  cost  of  living  is 
higher  than  the  average,  are  constantly  chafing  under  the 
pressure  of  unsatisfied  wants,  while  the  single  man,  or 
man  of  small  family  and  few  wants,  whose  individual 
cost  of  living  is  lower  than  the  average,  can  save  money. 
Thus,  under  normal  conditions,  when  demand  and  sup- 
ply are  equal,  wages  are  governed  by  the  cost  of  produc-' 
ing,  not  the  most  expensive  or  the  least  expensive  por- 
tion of  the  supply  of  labor-power,  but  by  the  average 
labor-power  of  the  workers  of  a  given  class. 

Again,  this  law  explains  why  the  Asiatic  or  European 
laborer  can  come  to  this  country  and  accumulate  wealth 
upon  wages  which  will  supply  the  American  family  with 
only  bare  necessities.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the 
foreigner's  standard  of  living  is  below  the  social  stan- 
dard of  his  class  here,  and,  as  he  is  able  to  secure  wages 
based  upon  the  social  standard  in  this  country,  he  is  able 
to  save  money.  He  could  save  nothing  in  his  own  coun- 


1 54     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

try  because  wages  there  were  not  in  excess  of  the  social 
standard  of  living  in  that  country.  There  is  no  margin 
for  Chinese  labor  in  China,  for  German  labor  in  Ger- 
many, for  English  labor  in  England,  or  for  American 
labor  in  America.  But  when  a  Chinaman  goes  to  Ger- 
many, or  a  German  to  England,  or  an  Englishman  to 
America,  each  finds  a  margin  because  each  goes  to  a 
country  where  the  standard  of  living  is  higher  than  his 
own.  But  if  the  order  were  reversed,  the  American 
going  to  England,  the  Englishman  going  to  Germany, 
and  the  German  going  to  China  there  would  be  no 
margin. 

In  each  country  the  average  cost  of  living  constitutes 
a  social  standard,  or  socially  accepted  standard,  of  living, 
and  this,  at  any  given  period,  regulates  the  rate  of  wages. 
It  is  the  social  standard  of  living  that  regulates  the  gen- 
eral rate  of  wages,  and  wages  regulate  the  individual 
standard  of  living.  When  the  standard  is  established,  the 
price  of  labor-power,  being  affected  by  demand  and  sup- 
ply, will  vibrate  above  and  below  its  natural  value.  If  the 
supply  is  excessive,  the  price  of  labor-power,  like  other 
commodities,  falls,  and  if  the  supply  continues  in  excess 
of  the  demand  a  new  social  standard  will  be  established 
around  which,  as  from  a  centre,  the  price  of  labor-power 
will  oscillate.  The  value  of  labor-power  both  rises  and 
falls  in  accordance  with  this  law.  The  Black  Death 
which  swept  over  England  in  1348,  carried  off,  as  esti- 
mated, one-third  of  the  laborers.  Wages  immediately 
arose  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  demand  and  supply 
This  scarcity  of  labor  continued  for  some  time  and  en- 
abled the  laborers,  by  means  of  their  increased  wages, 
to  raise  their  individual  standard  of  living,  which  soon 
became  general,  and  the  social  standard  became  adjusted 
to  this  higher  level.  When  this  social  standard  was  thu§ 
raised  and  established  the  laborers  were  able  to  maintain 


THE  LA  W  OF   WAGES.  I  5  5 

it  for  some  time  after  the  scarcity  of  labor  had  disap- 
peared. But  before  long  the  increased  supply  of  free  la- 
borers, caused  by  the  disbandment  of  the  feudal  retainers 
and  the  expropriation  of  the  peasants,  wrought  the 
downfall  of  labor. 

Such  has  been  the  working  of  the  law  of  wages  in 
every  age.  History  is  again  repeating  itself.  Since  1872 
wages  have  been  gradually  falling.  The  supply  of  laboi 
greatly  exceeds  the  demand  and  the  opportunity  for  self- 
employment  is  becoming  more  and  more  limited.  Undei 
such  conditions  the  price  of  individual  labor-power  is 
constantly  forced  below  the  social  standard.  When  a 
sufficient  number  of  laborers  are  forced  by  competition 
to  accept  a  lower  standard  of  living,  then  the  social  stan 
dard  becomes  adjusted  to  the  lower  level  and  a  new  basis 
is  established  which,  in  turn,  becomes  lowered,  and  so 
the  process  continues,  ever  approaching  the  point  of  bare 
subsistence.  The  same  law  applies  here  as  in  the  price 
of  commodities.  Prices  are  determined  by  the  social 
cost  of  production.  Individual  manufacturers  may  be 
able  to  reduce  their  cost  of  production,  but  it  is  only 
when  their  methods  and  appliances  become  general  that 
the  social  cost  is  affected.  When  such  is  the  case  the 
social  cost  is  adjusted  to  the  new  level.  The  individual 
standard  now  becomes  the  social  standard  and  a  new 
basis  is  established.  Labor  under  present  conditions  is 
governed  by  the  same  law.  Of  course,  there  are  excep- 
tions, as  in  a  new  country  and  with  individuals  of  ex- 
ceptional ability,  and  when  skilled  laborers  have  been 
able  by  virtue  of  unions  to  thwart,  for  the  time  being, 
the  working  of  the  law..  The  restriction,  however,  is  only 
temporary.  Statistics  show  that  the  wages  of  the  un- 
skilled laborers  always  tend  to  the  level  of  bare  subsis- 
tence. This  is  inevitable  under  present  conditions.  The 
evil  is  inherent  in  the  wage  system.  Capitalism  necessi- 


I  56      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

tates  this  law.  Says  Rodbertus :  "  The  workingman 
brings  on  the  market  a  perishable  merchandise,  namely, 
his  labor.  If  he  have  neither  land  nor  capital  to  employ 
his  labor,  he  must  offer  it  to  those  who  can  make  use  of 
it.  How  much  will  they  give  for  his  services  ? 

"  Forced  by  competition  to  produce  at  the  least  pos- 
sible cost,  they  will  give  no  more  than  what  is  strictly 
necessary,  but  what  is -strictly  necessary  is  what  is  needed 
to  enable  the  laborer  to  subsist  and  to  perpetuate  his 
kind." 

The  capitalist  is  not  to  blame  for  this  condition.  He 
must  produce  in  competition  with  others  and  so  must 
secure  his  laborers  at  the  lowest  possible  wage  upon 
which  they  can  live.  It  is  this  fierce  competition  among 
laborers  which  compels  them  to  accept  the  wages  of  bare 
subsistence.  Says  Dr.  Gladden,  "  A  bare  support  is  all 
that  the  economical  forces,  working'  unhindered,  will 
guarantee  to  the  laborer.  So  long  as  competition  is  the 
sole  arbiter  of  his  destiny,  that  is  about  all  he  will  get." 
Were  it  necessary  we  could  point  out  the  suffering  that 
exists  among  the  working  classes  to  show  that  Dr.  Glad- 
den is  right.  This,  however,  is  unnecessary,  for  the  suf- 
fering and  deprivations  of  the  working  classes  are  famil- 
iar to  all.  When,  as  to-day,  capitalism  has  developed  tc 
the  extent  that  nearly  all  the  means  of  production  are 
monopolized  by  a  few,  and  laborers  are  thus  unable  to 
employ  themselves,  the  laborer's  standard  of  living,  both 
social  and  individual,  continually  moves  toward  the  level 
of  bare  subsistence.  If  the  supply  of  labor  is  scarce,  the 
price  of  labor-power  will  not  fall  to  this  level,  but  in- 
crease the  supply  and  its  price,  as  that  of  any  other  com- 
modity, will  fall. 

Many  have  misunderstood  the  phrase  "  standard  of 
living."  Some  have  supposed  it  referred  to  the  wants 
or  desires  of  the  laborers,  instead  of  to  the  social  stan- 


THE  LAW  OF  WAGES.  157 

dard  of  necessities  and  needs.  Were  this  true  laborers 
could  fix  their  own  wages  regardless  of  capital  and  se- 
cure any  rate  they  might  desire.  Suppose  one  holding 
this  theory  were  to  present  himself  at  the  office  of  a 
corporation  and  apply  for  work.  Would  he  be  asked  as 
to  how  well  he  would  like  to  live  and  paid  accordingly  ? 
Suppose  he  decides  that  he  must  have  $5.00,  and  so  in- 
forms the  employer.  He  would  be  told  that  any  num- 
ber of  men  could  be  had  who  would  be  glad  to  fix  their 
standard  of  living  at  $1.00  a  day  and  even  less,  and  that 
he  could  take  that  or  go  elsewhere.  The  theory  that 
laborers  can  fix  their  standard  of  living  where  they  may 
choose  is  so  preposterous  that  it  is  strange  that  any  man 
clothed  and  in  his  right  mind  could  deliberately  set  it 
forth.  This,  however,  is  the  theory  of  Mr.  George  Gun- 
ton.  Read  the  records  of  labor  struggles,  of  strikes,  and 
of  lockouts.  How  often  does  labor  succeed  ?  Read 
the  records  of  wage  reductions  which  are  continually 
going  on.  Why  do  the  laborers,  in  so  many  instances, 
submit  to  this  injustice,  if  they  have  the  power  to  estab- 
lish their  standard  of  living  ?  Surely  no  one  will  claim 
that  laborers  willingly  submit  to  wage  reductions  which 
necessitates  a  lowering  of  their  standard  of  living. 

Laborers,  under  the  present  system,  are  absolutely  de- 
pendent, their  wages  being  determined  by  the  cost  of 
living,  and  any  perfection  in  mechanical  appliances  by 
which  the  cost  of  the  necessities  of  life  are  reduced  one- 
half,  will  ultimately  result  in  reducing  wages  in  like  pro- 
portions. When  the  supply  of  laborers  exceeds  the  de- 
mand and  laborers  are  unable  to  employ  themselves,  as 
to-day,  the  price  of  labor-power,  and  consequently,  the 
standard  of  living,  constantly  falls  toward  the  necessary 
cost  of  living. 

The  standard  of  living,  then,  never  refers  to  the  wants 
of  laborers,  but  to  their  average  needs  and  necessities. 


1 58      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM, 

A  laborer  may  desire  to  have  porterhouse  steak,  turkey, 
and  chicken  salad  every  day  in  the  week,  and  to  dress 
in  broadcloth  on  Sunday,  but  his  wages  are  what  deter- 
mines his  individual  standard  of  living,  and  not  vice  versa, 
and  he  is  thankful  if  he  is  able  to  secure  even  shoulder 
steak  and  a  half  respectable  suit  of  shoddy  clothes.  If 
a  man  resides  in  an  old  rookery  and  lives  on  the  coarsest 
of  food  it  is  because  of  necessity.  Give  him  a  position 
where  he  can  earn  $100  a  month  and  see  how  quickly 
he  will  raise  his  standard  of  living.  He  will  at  once 
move  into  a  decent  house  and  supply  his  table  with  palat- 
able food.  But  so  long  as  labor-power  remains  a  com- 
modity we  can  hope  for  no  improvement. 

Note  the  working  of  the  present  order.  Suppose,  for 
instance,  in  a  factory  employing  one  hundred  men, 
machines  are  introduced  which  enable  ten  men  to  do  the 
work  previously  performed  by  one  hundred.  This  elimi- 
nates ninety  workmen.  These  ninety  men  now  seek  em- 
ployment elsewhere,  but  machinery  has  been  introduced 
in  other  lines  and  similar  conditions  prevail.  After  a 
time  some  of  these  return  and  offer  to  work  for  less  than 
the  ten  who  were  retained,  and  so  secure  their  jobs.  The 
ten  who  were  underbid  now  start  out  in  search  of  work, 
but  finding  none,  they  also  return  and  offer  to  work  for 
the  capitalist  for  still  less  and  are  re-instated.  Thus  the 
competition  goes  merrily  on  until  wages  are  reduced  to 
the  point  of  bare  necessities.  Thus  the  price  of  labor- 
power  continually  falls  below  the  social  standard,  and 
this  at  last  necessitates  a  lowering  of  the  standard 
itself. 

If  laborers  could  secure  their  own  price  there  would 
be  no  labor  problem.  But  the  fact  is,  thousands  upon 
thousands  are  continually  out  of  employment,  and  for 
every  desirable  job  there  are  from  ten  to  one  hundred 
standing  in  waiting.  Laborers  are  cognizant  of  this 


THE  LAW  OF  WAGES.  159 

fact,  and  so  submit  to  every  form  of  suppression  and 
oppression.  Look  at  the  miners  who  work  for  42  cents 
a  day;  the  cotton  operatives  who  labor  for  $5.40  per 
week;  the  sweatshop  workers  who  receive  for  cambric 
dresses,  waists  lined  and  trimmed,  $1.20  a  dozen;  night- 
gowns, with  embroidery  and  tucked  yokes — thread  fur- 
nished and  embroidery  cut  out  by  maker — $1.00  a  dozen  ; 
silk  waists,  98  cents  a  dozen ;  woman's  wrappers,  40 
cents  a  dozen;  shirts,  30  cents  a  dozen;  neckties,  $1.35 
a  gross  ;  knee-pants,  50  to  75  cents  a  dozen  ;  vests,  $1.00 
to  $3.00  a  dozen;  trousers,  12\  cents  to  75  cents  per 
pair;  coats,  35  cents  to  $1.50  each,  percentage  off  for 
boss  sweaters  and  deduction  for  cost  of  cartage.  (See 
October  North  American  Review.  1897.) 

Is  it  possible  that  these  laborers  have  deliberately 
chosen  to  work  for  such  starvation  wages  ?  Do  you  not 
think  that  they  would  prefer  a  higher  standard  of  living 
than  such  wage  remuneration  allows  ?  According  to 
some  they  have  no  one  but  themselves  to  blame  !  They 
could  fix  their  standard  of  living  higher  and  demand 
double  or  triple  pay  to  meet  it  !  To  hear  some  people 
philosophize  one  would  imagine  there  are  a  dozen  em- 
ployers after  each  workman.  If  such  people  would  go 
out  in  search  of  employment  they  would  find,  unless 
they  went  unusually  early,  a  dozen  applicants  ahead  of 
them. 

Let  no  one  be  deceived  by  such  false  philosophy.  The 
laborer  has  trials  enough  already  without  inveigling  him 
into  a  useless  conflict  with  capital.  So  long  as  capital- 
ism continues,  capital  will  be  king.  Let  no  laborer  be 
foolish  enough  to  image  that  he  can  enjoy  the  privileges 
and  comforts  of  the  capitalist  by  simply  desiring  to  raise 
'his  own  standard  of  living.  He  might,  in  his  endeavor 
to  gain  that  end,  go  on  a  strike  or  in  search  of  work 
elsewhere,  but  he  would  return  a  sadder  and  a  wiser  man. 


l6o     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

He  would  learn  that  which  thousands  have  learned, 
that  under  the  wage  system  the  laborer  is  absolutely  de- 
pendent upon  the  owner  of  the  instruments  of  produc- 
tion. 

Let  laborers  unite  and  strike  at  the  ballot-box  for 
liberty.  Vote  into  effect  your  demand  for  the  abolition 
of  wage  slavery.  Wrench  by  united  political  action,  the 
power  of  government  from  the  hands  of  the  capitalist 
class,  that  you  may  put  your  economic  programme  into 
effect.  The  great  Socialist  movement  which  seeks  to 
establish  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth  is  the  only 
economic  salvation. 

There  is  no  hope  for  labor  under  the  wage  system. 
What  we  want  is  the  abolition  of  wages.  We  wan/  the 
entire  product  which  we  produce. 


THE  LA  W  OF  PROGRESS. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    LAW    OF    PROGRESS. 

IN  order  to  understand  the  law  of  progress  it  is  neces- 
sary for  us  to  briefly  trace  the  history  of  human  develop- 
ment. On  the  lower  planes  of  existence  we  find  the  law 
of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  mercilessly  at  work.  This 
is  the  law  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  and 
when  we  come  to  deal  with  man  in  the  old  days  of  bar- 
barism of  the  lowest  type,  we  find  substantially  the  same 
natural  law — the  battle  for  life  and  the  survival  of  the 
fittest — at  work  in  all  its  rigor. 

But  after  a  time  we  note  a  change.  We  begin  to  dis- 
cover the  working  of  another  law — the  law  of  human 
selection — mightier  than  this  law  of  natural  selection ; 
human  love,  human  sympathy,  and  human  tenderness 
have  begun  in  a  crude  way  to  manifest  themselves  and 
to  modify  the  law  as  it  works  among  the  unconscious 
forces  of  the  world.  A  man  loves  a  woman  with  a  half- 
barbaric  affection  and  takes  her  unto  himself.  From 
henceforth  he  battles  not  alone  for  his  own  personal  ex- 
istence, but  for  hers  also,  and  so  the  selfishness  begins 
to  blossom  into  that  which  is  unselffish.  Presently  chil- 
dren are  born,  and  the  group  is  bound  together  by  ties 
of  love  and  sympathy.  Here  we  see  the  birth  of  the 
principle  of  helpfulness.  Within  the  family  antagonisms 
are  allayed  and  harmony  attained.  The  germ  of  civiliza- 
tion here  manifested  is  the  result  of  the  operation  of 
altruistic  forces. 

Next  the  family  enlarges  and  becomes  a  patriarchal 


1 62      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

tribe.  Although  there  may  be  a  feeling  of  antagonism 
(competition)  toward  other  tribes,  still,  within  the  limits 
of  this  group,  there  is  a  certain  degree  of  sympathy  and 
helpfulness.  All  progress  here  is  due  to  the  altruistic 
principle  which  has  restricted  the  law  of  natural  selec- 
tion. The  very  beginnings  of  society  were  due,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  the  introduction  of  this  higher  law.  It  lies 
at  the  basis  of  the  family,  which  is  the  unit  of  society. 

Finally,  the  tribal  organization  is  changed  for  a  ter- 
ritorial one.  From  now  on  not  only  the  people  bound 
together  by  ties  of  kinship,  but  all  within  certain  terri- 
torial limits,  are  looked  upon  as  one  people,  and  it  is 
this  one  people  against  the  world.  Progress  has  thus 
been  attained  just  in  proportion  as  antagonisms  and 
conflicts  have  been  allayed. 

As  these  organizations  enlarged  there  entered  into  the 
mind  and  heart  of  the  noblest  a  dream  of  humanity  and 
we  have  Tennyson's  ideal,  "  The  Parliament  of  man,  the 
Federation  of  the  world."  This  is  still  an  ideal,  for 
neither  politically,  socially,  nor  industrially,  have  we 
risen  to  its  realization. 

Now,  note,  human  progress  has  been  the  result  of 
human  growth — the  unfolding  of  the  distinctively  hu- 
man qualities,  love,  tenderness,  and  sympathy.  Had  the 
law  of  natural  selection  been  given  full  play  on  the 
human  plane,  there  would  have  been  no  civilization ; 
there  would  have  been  no  humanity  even,  in  the  higher 
sense  of  the  word,  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Says  Prof. 
Herron  :  "  Competition  is  in  fact  the  negation  of  society ; 
and  such  society  as  we  have  exists  through  the  restric- 
tion of  competition.  The  evolution  of  society  is  the 
elimination  of  competition  through  the  progressivf  in- 
troduction of  altruistic  forces."  *  Altruism,  then,  has 

>  The  Christian  State,  Herron,  p.  89. 


THE  LA  W  OF  PROGRESS.  163 

been  the  law  that  has  made  for  civilization.  While  com- 
petition has  been  the  condition  of  much  of  the  struggle 
for  life  it  is  not  its  law.  Progress  means  the  subjuga- 
tion of  conflict,  effected  through  the  development  of  the 
higher  law  of  service.  There  would  have  been  but  little 
progress  had  men  not  united  their  efforts  for  the  com- 
mon weal.  The  true  principle  of  society  is  co-operation, 
and  civilization  is  measured  by  its  attainment. 

Says  Prof.  Parsons:  "The  whole  history  of  human 
advancement  is  simply  the-  story  of  getting  rid  of  con- 
flict. At  first  every  man  fought  for  himself, — then 
groups  co-operated  in  war, — then  nations, — groups  of 
nations,  and  at  last  the  world,  and  war  will  be  over, — at 
every  step  a  larger  union,  and  the  elimination  of  internal 
conflict  over  a  wider  area.  It  is  the  same  with  industry, — 
at  first  individual  workmen,  then  groups  in  factories, 
then  corporations,  syndicates,  trusts,  and  at  last  a  union 
of  ALL  in  one  great  co-operation  for  the  benefit  of  all, — 
at  every  step  a  larger  union  and  the  elimination  of  conflict 
within  its  borders, — at  last  an  all-including  union  and  the ' 
extinction  of  conflict.  If  conflict  is  the  essential  means 
of  advancement,  the  whole  history  of  civilization  has 
been  simply  a  closing  of  the  rates  of  progress,  and  we 
ought  to  get  rid  of  the  mischief  at  once,  and  go  back  to 
barbarism  with  all  possible  speed."  * 

Rev.  M.  J.  Savage,  in  speaking  of  the  conditions  of 
human  progress,  says :  "  If  you  place  yourself  in  the 
condition  of  early  man,  you  will  find  that  the  first  step 
that  he  needed  to  take  was  to  learn  how  to  combine. 
One  man  alone  is  helpless.  Men  organized  and  co- 
operating sympathetically  together  are  able  to  subdue 
the  earth.  .  .  .  The  problem  of  progress  will  be  found 
in  the  case  of  man,  just  as  in  the  case  of  a  tree,  when 

*  Our  Country's  Need,  Parsons,  p.  188. 


164      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

there  is  cohesive  power  enough  to  hold  together  and 
expansive  freedom  enough  to  permit  growth.  What 
man  needs  in  politics,  art,  science,  religion,  everywhere, 
is  to  learn  to  love  and  worship  and  care  for  this  prin- 
ciple of  co-operation,  so  that  men  can  combine,  but  to 
hold  it  loosely  enough  so  that  there  can  be  growth."  1 

All  progress  is  simply  a  growth, — an  advance  from  the 
simple  to  the  complex.  The  lowest  barbarian,  standing 
at  the  farthest  border  that  separates  manhood  from  the 
animal  world,  was  the  seed,  the  potency  of  all  that  the 
world  has  become.  But  in  order  for  this  potency  to 
develop,  as  with  the  seed  of  the  flower,  there  must  be 
soil,  sunshine,  rain,  and  opportunity.  While  there  is  no 
necessity  for  the  growth  of  any'  one  particular  individual 
or  nation,  there  is  a  necessity  for  the  growth  of  the  race. 
To  illustrate,  let  me  again  recur  to  the  flower.  There 
are  so  many  conditions  favorable  to  plant  life,  and  so 
many  seeds,  that  we  say  it  is  a  necessity  that  plant  life 
should  exist.  But  there  is  no  necessity  for  any  particu- 
lar plant  or  for  any  particular  variety,  to  exist.  And  so 
with  the  race.  It  must  live  and  go  on,  although  it  is  not  a 
necessity  that  any  particular  individual  or  nation  should 
continue  to  develop.  But  necessity  compels  the  growth 
of  the  race;  it  is  progress  or  death. 

Mankind,  of  course,  has  not  progressed  with  equal 
steps  through  all  the  ages.  There  have  been  periods 
when  the  race  has  seemed  to  be  standing  still ;  but  even 
then  it  has  often  been  gathering  increment  of  power,  so 
that  when  the  time  was  propitious  it  blossomed,  as  it 
seemed,  spontaneously,  into  great  advance  and  enlarge- 
ment of  life.  The  very  fact  that  progress  is  spiral  has 
hidden  the  real  law  from  view.  Nations,  like  individuals, 
are  born,  develop,  grow  old,  and  die.  But  this  attain- 

*  Btlufs  about  Matt,  Savage,  pp.  92,  93. 


THE  LA  W  OF  PROGRESS.  165 

ment  is  not  lost ;  it  passes  over  and  is  carried  on  by  other 
nations  just  beginning  their  life  cycle,  the  same  as  the 
knowledge  and  achievements  of  one  individual  are  pre- 
served by  another.  There  is,  then,  a  necessity  for  the  ad- 
vance of  the  race  as  a  whole. 

Now,  what  is  the  force  at  the  heart  of  humanity  that 
constitutes  the  eternal  impetus  toward  progress  ?  As 
at  the  heart  of  the  seed  so  at  the  heart  of  man,  there  is 
an  endless  thirst  to  become  more,  to  reach  out  on  every 
side.  There  is  a  mental  and  spiritual  hunger  and  thirst 
in  man  to  be  more  than  he  is  although  he  knows  not 
why.  All  progress  means  trusting  this  hunger  and 
thirst,  and  opening  the  field  for  its  realization.  This  ten- 
dency to  develop  being  given  all  that  is  needed  to  secure 
its  attainment  is  opportunity.  We  should  take  heed  that 
no  obstacles  are  placed  in  the  way,  and  that  no  false 
theories  shall  lead  us  astray. 

One  of  the  primal  factors  of  all  progress  is  right  condi- 
tions,— the  soil.  Is  the  competitive  soil  propitious  for 
the  attainment  of  this  end  ?  Let  us  examine  some  of 
the  legitimate  results  of  the  workings  of  the  competitive 
principle. 

This  principle  of  competition,  with  its  inherent  greed 
and  selfishness,  is  the  cause  of  much  of  the  oppression 
and  suppression  that  have  cursed  the  modern  world.  It 
begets  antagonisms,  cruelty,  injustice,  cunning,  and 
selfishness,  and  undoes  that  which  religion  and  ethics 
have  been  toiling  to  do.  It  violates  the  law  of  love,  sac- 
rifices manhood  to  material  wealth,  and  engenders  ser- 
vility, hatred,  untruthfulness,  trickery,  and  despotism. 
It  develops  all  that  is  combative,  unscrupulous  and  un- 
sympathetic in  man  and  begets  improvidence,  reckless- 
ness, intemperance,  and  illiteracy.  It  ruins  the  lives  of 
millions  with  needless  preventable  disease  and  poverty, 
and  hinders  the  development  of  brotherly  love,  sym- 


166      PRINCIPLES  UF  ^UENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

pathy,  and  helpfulness.  It  grants  the  highest  prizes  to 
the  greatest  wrongs,  thus  undermining  virtue  by  placing 
a  premium  upon  dishonesty.  It  makes  of  all  business 
one  vast  scheme  of  speculation  and  fills  all  mercantile 
transactions  with  deception.  It  results  in  the  wholesale 
adulteration  of  nearly  all  food  products,  and  in  general 
has  made  commodities  dearer.  It  produces,  by  its  an- 
archy of  production,  periodical  crises  and  industrial  de- 
pressions with  their  attendant  want  and  misery.  It  robs 
the  people  of  needed  leisure  and  suppresses  the  impulse 
of  creative  genius.  It  results  in  the  monopolization  of 
the  means  of  production  and  the  reduction  of  the  great 
majority  of  laborers  to  a  condition  of  wage  slavery,  and 
exploits  them  out  of  four-fifths  of  the  wealth  they  create, 
thus  giving  millions  of  dollars  to  non-producers  while 
millions  of  workers  are  reduced  to  the  verge  of  starva- 
tion. It  fills  this  glorious  country  of  ours  with  thous- 
ands of  paupers,  thousands  of  tramps,  and  thousands 
of  suicides.  It  wastes  at  least  five-sixths  of  the 
productive  forces  of  the  world  and  has  caused  strikes 
and  lockouts  which  have  cost  millions  upon  millions  of 
dollars.  It  creates  in  some  a  feverish  force  which  re- 
sults in  nervous  exhaustation,  while  it  leaves  the  great 
mass  devitalized  of  energy  by  depriving  them  of  all  in- 
terest in  their  work.  It  condemns  the  vast  number  to 
poverty  and  want  and  bequeaths  to  their  children  a 
legacy  of  misery  and  sin.  It  destroys  liberty,  indepen- 
dence, and  individuality,  and  makes  the  workman  de- 
pendent on  the  will  or  whim  of  a  master.  It  has 
produced  a  host  of  parasites  who  live  in  luxurious  idle- 
ness off  the  results  of  productive  toil.  It  turns  machin- 
ery, which  is  designed  to  be  of  service  to  man  in  lighten- 
ing his  toil,  into  a  lever  for  the  aggravation  of  his 
servitude.  It  causes  great  economic  loss  from  the  insuf- 
ficiency, indifference,  and  want  of  adaptation  of  labor. 


THE  LA  W  OF  PROGRESS.  167 

It  results  in  enormous  wastes  from  ignorance,  luxury, 
useless  duplications,  needless  stores,  manufactories, 
prisons,  banks,  insurance  houses,  employers,  clerks, 
book-keepers,  salesmen,  agents,  jobbers,  speculators,  ad- 
vertisers, drummers,  lawyers,  police,  etc.  It  enables 
some  to  become  owners  of  the  machinery  of  production, 
which  involves  ownership  of  the  men  who  must  use  that 
machinery  or  starve,  thus  making  wage  slavery  more 
profitable  than  chattel  slavery,  as  the  capitalist  secures  all 
the  advantages  of  the  ancient  system  and  escapes  all  the 
responsibilities.  It  begets  national  rivalry,  and  engenders 
enmity,  strife,  and  hatred,  which  is  becoming  more  desper- 
ate with  the  development  of  capitalism.  It  makes  the  chief 
function  of  government  to  build  implements  of  destruc- 
tion, whereas  the  true  function  of  government  is  to  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  mankind.  It  causes  the  disintegra- 
tion of  family  life  and  drives  wife  and  children  into  the 
factory  to  help  in  the  maintenance  of  their  humble  home. 
It  fills  the  records  with  failures  and  bankruptcies. 
Finally,  it  has  so  distorted  civilization  that  nine  per  cent, 
of  the  population  now  own  seventy-one  per  cent,  of  the 
wealth. 

It  would  seem,  then,  that  competition  instead  of  pro- 
moting progress  and  civilization,  has  distoited  them  at 
every  turn.  The  fact  that  civilization  in  many  ways  is 
but  little  more  than  veneered  barbarism  is  due  to  this 
ruling  principle.  While  in  certain  directions  we  have 
made  great  progress  in  spite  of  this  Satanic  principle, 
God  only  knows  what  we  might  have  attained  had  con- 
ditions been  favorable.  We  cannot  hope  that  the  high- 
est development  of  the  individual,  the  loftiest  aims  of  hu- 
manity, or  a  true  state  of  civilization  will  ever  be  realized 
so  long  as  this  brute  force  of  competition  is  the  ruling 
(actor  of  our  economic  life.  We  have  become  so  accus- 
tomed to  the  antagonisms  and  incongruities  of  our  com- 


1 68      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

\ 

petitive  system  that  these  anomalies  do  not  affect  us. 
But  what  could  be  more  surprising  to  an  inhabitant  of 
some  other  sphere,  utterly  unfamiliar  with  our  industrial 
methods,  than  our  present  economic  order.  The  things 
of  every  day  which  we  pass  over  with  placidity  would 
seem  inconsistent  enough  to  him.  How  can  we  hope  for 
peace  and  harmony  in  the  industrial  realm,  where  the 
very  basis  of  the  order  is  strife  and  warfare  ?  And  how 
can  we  expect  the  best  results  to  be  attained  under  a 
system  of  antagonisms  and  conflicts  ?  If  the  purpose 
is  to  secure  the  largest  results  from  the  least  expendi- 
ture of  human  force,  then  our  system  stands  convicted  of 
imbecility.  Given  a  country  and  a  people,  how  can  the 
problem  of  great  results  be  best  solved — by  competition 
or  co-operation  ?  Can  it  be  that  a  nation  in  which 
every  man  tries  to  get  the  better  of  every  other  man, 
will  be  happier,  more  prosperous,  and  more  civilized 
than  a  nation  in  which  every  man  tries  to  help  his  fel- 
lows ?  It  is  but  axiomatic  to  say  that  men  will  accom- 
plish more  when  they  unite  their  efforts  for  a  common 
end,  than  when  they  proceed  in  an  unorganized  and  hap- 
hazard manner.  "  In  union  there  is  strength."  History 
evidences  the  truth  of  this  proverb.  It  is  as  true  in  eco- 
nomics as  in  any  other  field  of  human  activity.  It  is 
only  by  united  effort  that  real  progress  is  attained.  This 
lack  of  concert  is  the  one  thing  most  conspicuous  in  our 
industrial  order.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  under  the  hap- 
hazard play  of  private  enterprise,  we  frequently  suffer 
paroxysms  in  the  economic  world  ?  The  greater  won- 
der is  that  the  complicated  mechanism  is  able  to  run  at 
all. 

Says  William  Morris :  "  You  have  often  been  told  that 
the  competition,  which  is  at  present  the  rule  of  all  pro- 
duction, is  a  good  thing,  and  stimulates  the  progress  of 
the  race;  but  the  people  who  tell  you  this  should  call 


THE  LA  W  OF  PROGRESS.  169 

competition  by  its  shorter  name  of  war  if  they  wish  to 
be  honest,  and  you  would  then  be  free  to  consider 
whether  or  no  war  stimulates  progress,  otherwise  than 
as  a  mad  bull  chasing  you  over  your  own  garden  may 
do.  War  or  competition,  whichever  you  please  to  call 
it,  means  at  the  best,  pursuing  your  own  advantage  at  the 
cost  of  some  one  else's  loss,  and  in  the  process  of  it  you 
must  not  be  sparing  of  destruction  even  of  your  own 
possessions,  or  you  will  certainly  come  by  the  worse  in 
the  struggle."1 

The  great  corporations  and  trusts  have  learned  the  folly 
of  competition  and  have  abandoned  it  for  the  principles 
of  Socialism — co-operation,  co-ordination,  and  unifica- 
tion. Experience  has  taught  them  that  their  common 
end,  the  attainment  of  profits,  can  best  be  secured  by 
combination.  When  society  becomes  truly  civilized  all 
its  members  will  cease  competing  with  one  another  and 
will  unite  their  efforts  for  the  common  good.  With  the 
elimination  of  industrial  conflict  the  conditions  of  prog- 
ress will  be  realized.  Says  Prof.  Herron :  "  Men  are 
ceasing  to  believe,  and  can  no  longer  be  persuaded,  that 
a  condition  of  rivalry,  in  which  they  are  supposed  to  act 
from  an  enlightened  self-interest,  is  the  real  ground  of 
social  order  and  progress.  The  civilization  that  now 
builds  upon  the  assumption  that  men  are  antagonists, 
and  not  members  of  one  social  body,  is  fundamentally 
anarchical — against  the  divine  course  of  things."  2 

The  whole  story  of  progress  is  summed  up  in  the  two 
words — Manhood  and  Mutualism.  These  have  been  the 
most  efficient  means  of  accomplishing  human  desires 
and  even  the  production  of  material  wealth.  Any  theory 
that  fails  to  recognize  that  these  qualities  should  he  the 

i  William  Morris,  Lee,  p.  138. 

»  The  Christian  State,  Herron,  p.  19. 


I/O    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

supreme  product  of  a  nation's  industries  is  pernicious. 
Our  present  industrialism  aims  only  at  merchandise,  for- 
getting that  intelligence  and  heart  are  the  most  impor- 
tant factors  in  utilizing  the  means  of  production.  It  thus 
defeats  its  own  purpose,  even  in  the  realm  of  material 
progress.  Material  gain,  to  the  vast  majority,  is 
thwarted  by  this  very  principle  of  competition.  Com- 
petitive industry  means  that  laborers  are  deprived  of  the 
opportunity  of  employing  themselves,  and  so  must  sell 
themselves  into  wage  slavery.  Such  a  system  is  inef- 
ficient as  a  wealth  producer,  it  furnishes  no  motive  to  in- 
dustry. On  the  other  hand,  co-operation  would  be  effec- 
tive. Under  co-operation  the  income  of  each  would 
depend  upon  the  social  product.  It  would  then  be  to 
the  interest  of  every  man  to  be  as  productive  as  possible, 
for  the  larger  the  product  the  more  each  worker  would 
receive.  In  the  days  of  individual  production,  men  were 
diligent  because  the  result  depended  upon  their  industry. 
and  the  same  would  be  true  under  Socialism,  for  men 
co-operating  would  receive  the  full  product  of  their  labor. 
The  larger  the  product  the  greater  the  means  of  satis- 
fying their  wants.  Inasmuch  as  individual  income  and 
well-being  would  depend  upon  one's  own  zeal  and  the 
zeal  of  others,  every  laborer  would  be  watchful  that  none 
shirked  his  duty,  for  self-interest  and  justice  would  de- 
mand that  each  should  render  a  just  labor  energy  for 
his  share  of  the  product.  We  need  only  to  study  the 
history  of  co-operation  and  profit-sharing,  where  indi- 
vidual income  depends  upon  the  social  product,  to  find 
that  Socialism  would  greatly  increase  the  motive  to  ex- 
ertion. 

Thus  fro^n  the  standpoint  of  material  gain,  Socialism 
would  be  a  more  effective  motive  to  industry  and  a 
greater  stimulus  to  progress  than  the  present  system. 
But  love  of  gain,  although  perfectly  legitimate  so  long 


THE  LA  W  OF  PROGRESS.  •    1 71 

as  it  does  not  interfere  with  the  rights  of  others,  is  one 
of  the  lower  motives.  It  is  not  the  motive  power  of 
humanity. 

Human  nature  is  a  many-sided  organism  and  is  sub- 
ject to  many  appeals  aside  from  the  desire  for  pecuniary 
gain.  Especially  is  this  true  of  men  of  culture  and  gen- 
ius, who  have  generally,  if  not  always,  served  the  world 
without  mercenary  incentive. 

Greed  is  not  the  chief  motive  of  the  human  heart.  As 
we  look  about  us,  upon  every  hand  we  see  the  evidence 
of  this  fact.  Look  at  the  life-boat  service.  Does  this 
exist  for  gain  ?  Is  the  incentive  here  "  honest  money  ?  '" 
Look  at  the  army.  Is  it  the  paltry  few  dollars  monthly 
that  pays  for  long  marches,  the  loss  of  limb,  the  risk  of 
life  ?  Look  at  the  fire  department.  Is  it  money  that 
causes  firemen  to  rush  into  the  flames  and  struggle  like 
Trojans  to  rescue  property  that  belongs  to  others  ? 
Look  at  the  editors,  ministers,  authors,  inventors.  Is  it 
dirty  dross  that  incites  them  to  faithfulness  ?  Thousands 
of  them  could  make  more  money  in  other  callings,  but 
they  labor  on  because  they  love  their  calling.  They 
often  put  more  money  into  their  undertakings  than  they 
ever  realize  and,  frequently,  men  who  are  able  to  retire, 
toil  on  assiduously  through  love  of  their  vocation.  Look 
at  the  men  who  strive  at  cricket,  base-ball,  and  foot-ball ; 
see  them  nearly  kill  themselves  at  foot-races,  boat- 
races,  and  cycle-races.  Is  all  this  effort,  zeal,  and  en- 
thusiasm for  money  incentive?  Look  at  children  at  play. 
Is  it  love  of  money  that  makes  them  rush  pell-mell 
across  the  green  ?  In  all  these  instances  it  is  not  pecun- 
iary gain  that  stimulates  to  action.  The  chief  motive* 
are  love  of  approbation,  desire  to  excel,  social  esteem, 
etc.  These  are  all  stronger  motives  than  mere  greed. 
How,  then,  in  the  light  of  these  facts,  can  one  say  that 


1 72     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

greed  is  the  motive-power  of  the  human  race  ?  Greed 
never  yet  ministered  to  progress. 

Says  Robert  Blatchford :  "  If  a  prize  is  offered  for  a 
new  machine,  will  a  man  of  no  genius  make  it  ?  No. 
He  will  try  for  the  sake  of  the  prize ;  but  he  will  fail  for 
lack  of  brains.  But  no  prize  being  offered,  will  the  man 
of  genius,  seeing  the  use  for  a  new  machine,  invent  it  ? 
He  will.  History  proves  that  he  will  invent  and  docs 
invent  it,  not  only  without  hope  of  gain,  but  even  at  risk 
of  life  and  liberty. 

"  It  seems,  then,  that  genius  without  mercenary  incen- 
tive will  serve  the  world;  but  that  mercenary  motives 
without  genius  will  not."  * 

Men  will  always  do  more  for  love,  honor,  or  fame  than 
they  will  for  money.  The  lives  of  Bruno,  Galileo,  New- 
ton, and  a  host  of  explorers  and  martyrs  evidence  this 
truth.  For  the  sake  of  love,  truth,  duty,  religion,  men 
and  women  have  suffered  imprisonment  and  martyrdom. 
Who  would  do  as  much  for  pecuniary  gain  ?  Xo, 
friends,  greed,  even  to-day,  is  not  the  chief  motive  of 
life.  Even  in  seeking  wealth  most  men  do  it  for  what 
they  think  it  will  bring,  admiration  and  enjoyment.  If 
they  thought  this  end  could  not  be  attained  in  this  way, 
Mammon  would  not  have  so  many  worshippers.  Aside 
from  the  need  of  securing  the  daily  necessities  of  life,  the 
two  chief  motives  that  actuate  men  to  acquire  money,  are 
the  wish  to  provide  for  the  future  of  the  family  and  the 
desire  to  purchase  applause.  The  former  is  due  to  love 
and  the  latter  to  vanity,  both  of  which  are  stronger  mo- 
tives than  mere  greed. 

To  deprive  money-grabbing — one  of  the  greatest  hin- 
drances of  progress — of  its  power,  we  must  make  de- 
cided social  changes.  We  must  so  reconstruct  society 

i  Merrie  England,  Blatchford,  p.  131. 


THE  LA  W  OF  PROGRESS.  1 7 J 

that  fortune  cannot  be  secured  at  the  expense  of  others, 
that  widows  and  children  shall  in  no  case  come  to  want 
and  that  wealth  will  not  secure  honor  or  purchase  ap- 
plause. When  this  is  attained  the  higher  motives  so 
long  subordinated  will  come  to  the  front.  Secure  to  all 
the  physical  bases  of  life,  and  these  multifarious  motives 
would  start  into  full  activity  and  serve  as  the  stimuli  to 
higher  endeavor  and  increased  excellence.  These  higher 
motives  which  minister  to  progress  and  civilization  are 
to-day  held  in  check  by  our  economic  system  of  grab 
and  greed. 

The  whole  progress  of  man  consists  in  restraining  his 
animal  nature,  in  subjecting  his  passions  and  developing 
all  the  capabilities  and  possibilities  of  his  being.  The 
struggle  has  been,  and  is,  between  the  egoistic  and  al- 
truistic principles,  and  man's  progress  is  indicated  by 
the  extent  to  which  the  higher  dominates  the  lower. 
Primeval  man  was  but  little  superior  to  the  brutes  of  the 
field,  ignorant,  cruel,  selfish.  But  these  animal  tenden- 
cies were  gradually  restrained  as  the  higher  principles 
gained  ascendency.  Progress  has  been  attained  just  in 
proportion  as  the  brute  impulses  of  greed  and  competi- 
tive warfare  have  been  eliminated.  As  society  developed 
this  selfish  principle  was  restrained  upon  the  physical 
plane,  where  physical  strife  determined  the  survival,  and 
passed  to  the  commercial  world,  taking  on  the  form  of 
industrial  warfare.  As  each  realm  has  been  reduced  to 
harmony  it  has  sought  refuge  elsewhere,  and,  as  the  lowest 
was  first  closed,  it  has  been  driven  into  higher  spheres. 
Its  working  on  the  industrial  plane  has  been  so  disas- 
trous that  it  is  fast  being  eliminated  by  gigantic  com- 
binations of  capital,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  destroy 
competitive  warfare.  The  trusts  and  syndicates  aim  to 
establish  harmony  in  the  industrial  realm.  Although 
this  is  a  step  in  advance  the  benefits  are  monopolized  by 


174     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

a  few.  The  evil  effects  of  competition  are  eliminated  for 
those  who  adopt  the  principle  of  co-operation,  but  the 
masses,  by  virtue  of  this  very  fact,  are  compelled  to  re- 
main within  its  grasp.  When  laborers  become  wise 
enough  to  co-operate  for  their  own  well-being,  they  will 
socialize  the  instruments  of  production  and  distribution 
and  thus  establish  complete  harmony  in  the  industrial 
world.  The  principle  of  competition,  having  no  further 
scope  in  this  sphere,  would  be  compelled  to  seek  refuge 
upon  the  intellectual  plane.  When  men  by  co-operative 
effort  supply  their  physical  wants  with  a  few  hours'  daily 
work,  and  are  thus  relieved  from  the  humiliating  fear  of 
poverty,  they  will  begin  to  compete  with  each  other  for 
honor  in  literature,  art,  and  science.  This  principle, 
however,  upon  the  intellectual  plane  would  not  be  com- 
petitive but  emulative.  Competition  would  give  way  to 
emulation.  When  people  are  lifted  above  the  sordid 
struggle  for  a  mere  existence,  we  shall  have  such  a 
renaissance  as  the  world  has  never  dreamed  of. 

We  have  seen  that  all  progress  is  due  to  a  resistless 
thirst,  an  inherent  impulse,  that  drives  men  forward. 
This  inherent  force  at  the  heart  of  man,  this  eternal  im- 
petus toward  progress,  this  mental  hunger  to  reach  out 
and  become  more, — all  this  longing  in  man  has  gone  on 
and  wrought  for  progress  in  spite  of  the  adverse  environ- 
ment of  industrial  competition.  Just  as  the  plant  in  the 
cellar  or  under  a  stone  will  reach  out  and  seek  for  the 
tiniest  ray  of  light  that  may  come  through  some  crevice, 
or  will  attempt  to  lift  off  and  tumble  over  the  obstruc- 
tion that  hinders  its  rise,  so  ever  it  has  been  with  hu- 
manity; it  has  not  yet  been  able  to  throw  off  the 
obstacle  of  industrial  competition,  but  it  has  reached  out 
for  the  ray  of  light  and  has  gone  forward  in  spite  of  the 
obstacles  that  hinder  its  progress. 

This  obstacle  of  industrial  competition,  however,  will 


THE  LA  W  OF  PROGRESS.  175 

not  always  remain.  Competition  will  be  supplanted  by 
co-operation  and  then  humanity  will  spring  forward  with 
leaps  and  bounds.  The  exquisite  Utopian  dreams  of  the 
past  will  be  dwarfed  into  insignificance  as  compared  with 
the  glories  of  that  perfect  day. 

Truly  did  Ruskin  say,  "  Government  and  co-operation 
are  in  all  things  the  laws  of  life ;  anarchy  and  competi- 
tion the  laws  of  death." 


PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


CHAPTER  XL 

INDUSTRIAL   DEPRESSIONS   AND    COMMERCIAL    CRISES. 

INDUSTRIAL  depressions  and  commercial  crises  are 
natural  outgrowths  of  our  present  system  of  competitive 
industry.  While  the  evils  of  this  system  are  often  much 
aggravated  by  mistaken  methods  in  banking,  and  some- 
times the  crises  are  rendered  unmanageable  by  the  in- 
flation of  the  currency  and  consequent  over-speculation, 
still  no  tinkering  of  our  financial  and  banking  system  will 
touch  the  root  of  this  evil.  The  real  cause  of  these  ever- 
recurring  depressions  is  something  more  than  a  mere 
excrescence. 

We  need  here  to  note  that  the  development  of  indus- 
try favors  the  growth  of  banks  and  credit  establishments, 
and  these,  in  turn,  stimulate  the  over-production  of  com- 
modities. In  fact,  these  institutions  are  only  a  con- 
venient method  of  conducting  one  portion  of  the  machin- 
ery of  capitalism.  Nearly  all  business  to-day  is  carried 
on  with  borrowed  capital. 

If  we  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  system  of  credit 
and  banking  is  but  a  part  of  the  system  of  capitalism 
(the  functions  which  formerly  were  performed  by  the 
employer  are  now  delegated  to  certain  individuals)  we 
shall  not  be  deceived  by  the  demagogue's  cry  of  money 
panics..  Although  finances  are  always  m ore  or  less  dis- 
turbed by  such  conditions,  and  frequently  a  financial 
crisis  appears  as  the  first  evidence  that  the  body  eco- 
nomic is  out  of  order,  nevertheless,  the  real  causes  of  the 
financial  disturbance  lie  much  deeper. 


INDUSTRIAL  DEPKESSIONS.  1 77 

Let  us  now  inquire  briefly  into  the  causes  of  these 
depressions  and  crises.  There  are  several  causes  which 
contribute  to  'this  end.  The  first  that  I  will  mention  is 
the  anarchy  of  private  enterprise.  Industrial  depressions 
and  crises  inhere  in  production  for  sale.  In  the  first 
stages  of  this  production  every  producer  produced  more 
or  less  for  self-consumption,  the  market  was  small  and 
easily  sized  up,  and  the  social  life  of  the  people  remained 
unchanged.  In  such  a  community  all  were  acquainted 
with  one  another  and  each  knew  the  other's  wants  and 
purchasing  capacity,  which  remains  substantially  the 
same  from  year  to  year.  Consequently  the  number  of 
producers  and  consumers,  the  amount  of  yearly  prod- 
ucts, etc.,  remained  practically  the  same,  or  changed  so 
slowly  that  each  change  was  observed  and  considered. 
In  these  days  of  primitive  production,  before  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery,  goods  were  chiefly  made  for  ex- 
isting demand.  In  a  large  measure  commodities  were 
made  to  order,  and  if  not,  but  a  small  surplus  stock  was 
kept  on  hand,  thus  production  kept  close  to  consumption. 
Although  the  causes  of  industrial  depressions  inhered 
in  the  method  of  this  small  production  they  did  not 
manifest  themselves  until  production  for  sale  had  reached 
a  certain  stage  of  development.  Under  the  rule  of  small 
industry  production  was  not  capable  of  much  extension. 
The  only  way  that  production  could  be  increased  was  by 
working  over-time,  and  this  really  amounted  to  but  little, 
the  productivity  of  labor  being  so  small.  But  as  soon 
as  industry  developed  out  of  the  local  market  into  the 
world's  market,  commerce  made  its  appearance  and  the 
productivity  of  labor  was  enhanced  by  mechanical  in- 
ventions, the  planlessness  of  production  began  to  result 
in  over-production,  and  industrial  depressions  and  crises 
made  their  appearance. 

As  the  markets  extended  they  became  more  and  more 


1/8      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

difficult  to  control.  Production  ceased  to  be  carried  on 
for  self-consumption  and  the  producer,  losing  control 
over  the  local  market,  was  obliged  to  seek  a  sale  for  his 
products  elsewhere  in  competition  with  other  producers. 
The  development  of  commerce,  which  went  hand  in  hand 
with  the  development  of  transportation,  enabled  the 
massing  of  commodities  at  any  point  where  demand  was 
manifested,  and  this,  together  with  the  appearance  of  the 
middlemen  necessitated  by  trade,  made  it  extremely  dif- 
ficult to  estimate  the  demand  for  and  the  supply  of  com- 
modities. 

Industry  thus  entered  the  realm  of  speculation.  Both 
the  manufacturer  and  merchant  must  necessarily  specu- 
late as  to  the  demand,  and  this  speculation  was  rendered 
extremely  hazardous  because  of  the  number  thus  en- 
gaged. Thousands  of  competitors  were  but  waiting  to 
seize  every  opportunity  for  profit,  so  quickness  was  a 
necessity  to  success.  If  there  arose  a  demand  for  a  cer- 
tain commodity  in  any  locality,  each  tried  to  flank  his 
competitor,  with  the  result  that  the  community  was 
deluged  with  products.  Prices  would  then  fall  and  mer- 
chants would  be  obliged  to  sell  at  a  loss,  which  frequently 
wrought  their  ruin.  With  this  excess  of  commodities 
and  its  attendant  failures  an  industrial  depression  and 
crisis  was  at  hand.  This  was  the  inevitable  result  just  as 
soon  as  production  for  sale  reached  the  point  of  extended 
markets.  Here  private  enterprise  compels  every  pro- 
ducer to  produce  and  sell  for  himself,  and  to  keep  all  his 
transasctions  secret,  although  the  success  of  both  pro- 
ducer and  merchant  depends  on  how  much  others  pro- 
duce and  sell.  A  few  orders  are  received  and  each  manu- 
facturer produces  two  or  three  times  the  requirements, 
hoping  to  dispose  of  all  that  is  produced,  for  the  more 
goods  sold,  other  things  being  equal,  the  larger  the 
profits.  Here,  note,  all  of  this  production  is  absolutely 


INDUSTRIAL  DEPRESSIONS. 

planless.  No  one  knows  anything  about  the  extent  of 
the  demand ;  each  is  merely  guessing  in  the  dark.  But 
each  pushes  his  industrial  activity,  for  his  machinery  and 
factory  deteriorate  from  disuse.  Each  also  desires  to  re- 
tain his  special  workmen,  and  so  production  is  con- 
tinued just  as  long  as  possible.  Everything  seems  bright, 
and  confidence  becomes  blind  and  credit  unlimited.  Pro- 
duction increases  prodigiously  and  each  is  bent  on  sur- 
passing, outbidding,  and  over-reaching  the  other.  In 
this  condition  the  commercial  demand  is  soon  met,  but 
as  each  is  ignorant  of  both  the  demand  and  the  doings 
of  his  fellow  competitors,  each  pushes  on  lest  he  be  left 
in  the  chase. 

In  order  to  gain  trade  manufacturers  resort  to  every 
device  known  to  man.  New  machinery  is  invented, 
wages  are  reduced,  goods  are  adulterated, — all  for  the 
purpose  of  reducing  the  cost  of  production  and  so  under- 
selling a  rival.  Manufacturers  vie  with  each  other  in 
their  concessions  to  jobbers  and  distributers,  selling 
goods  on  long  credits,  and  they,  in  turn,  place  the  goods 
with  retailers  on  like  terms,  the  whole  process  being 
sustained  not  by  capital  but  by  credit.  The  result  of 
this  free-for-all,  go-as-you-please  method  of  procedure  is 
to  flood  the  markets  with  goods  for  which  there  is  no 
demand.  Nevertheless,  manufacturers  keep  on  produc- 
ing and  business  men  keep  placing  orders  in  anticipation 
of  new  orders,  and  so  pay  old  debts  by  contracting  new 
ones.  But  finally  trade  becomes  blockaded  and 
business  stagnates.  Soon  the  merchant  must  pay 
for  the  goods  he  bought;  but  as  the  goods  are  un- 
sold, he  cannot  meet  his  obligation  and  so  fails.  The 
manufacturer  has  contracted  debts,  relying  upon  pay- 
ment for  his  product  to  meet  them,  and  as  his  debtoi 
cannot  pay  him  he  cannot  meet  his  obligation  and  so 
must  fail.  And  now  the  bank  having  advanced  money 


l8o     PRINCIPLES  Of  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

to  the  manufacturer  is  unable  to  realize  on  its  securities 
and  so  must  suspend  operations.  Thus  the  disease 
spreads,  failure  follows  failure,  bankruptcy  following 
bankruptcy — the  crisis  is  here. 

As  one  branch  of  industry  depends  upon  another, 
when  one  suffers  all  suffer.  The  suspension  of  produc- 
tion in  one  field  evidences  itself  throughout  the  whole 
network  of  industry.  The  circle  of  depression  becomes 
wider  and  wider;  it  feeds  itself  until  all  production  and 
commerce  are  paralyzed.  Stores  are  now  filled  with 
goods  of  every  description  and  millions  of  workingmen 
are  unemployed.  These  vast  quantities  of  goods  are  sold 
at  a  great  sacrifice.  They  must  be  gotten  rid  of  at  some 
price,  else  they  become  worthless.  After  some  years  of 
stagnation  this  glut  or  over-production  is  relieved  and 
society  begins  slowly  to  recover.  The  surplus  goods 
having  been  consumed  and  wasted,  the  demand  again 
calls  for  renewed  production.  Production  begins,  at  first 
cautiously,  but  orders  increase,  and  soon  the  thousands 
of  bankruptcies  are  forgotten  and  the  engines  of  produc- 
tion are  again  driven  at  full  speed — the  golden  age  of 
prosperity  has  again  dawned.  Producers  wish  to  in- 
demnify themselves  for  what  they  have  lost,  and  if  they 
have  any  misgivings  as  to  the  future,  they  hope  to  make 
themselves  good  before  another  crisis  appears.  Every 
producer  is  thus  actuated  to  try  to  get  the  better  of  his 
competitor.  The  catastrophe  is  thus  again  invited  and 
comes  in  response  to  the  call,  only  with  increased  vio- 
lence and  more  damaging  effects. 

Thus,  under  the  present  system,  the  crisis  is  inevitable, 
and  is  of  periodic  recurrence.  Industry  runs  what  is 
called  the  vicious  circle  from  every  seven  to  ten  years. 
Beginning  with  the  crisis  of  1815  nine  such  catastrophies 
;iave  affected  the  United  States  during  the  nineteenth 
century.  Nor  have  these  dread  evils  been  confined  to 


INDUSTRIAL  DEPRESSIONS.  iSl 

this  country;  they  are  world-wide  and  nearly  contem- 
poraneous in  all  the  great  manufacturing  nations. 

When  we  stop  to  consider  the  haphazard  manner  in 
which  production  proceeds,  it  is  a  wonder  that  our  in- 
dustrial mechanism  runs  as  well  as  it  does  !  Just  so 
long  as  each  producer  continues  to  act  for  himself  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  what  his  fellows  are  doing,  de- 
mand and  supply  will  never  be  adjusted.  No  one  would 
think  of  applying  such  a  method  to  his  individual 
business.  Our  present  senseless  and  chaotic  system  of 
production  cannot  help  creating,  at  stated  periods,  more 
goods  than  can  be  consumed.  The  result  is  stagnation. 
Production  must  cease  until  the  equilibrium  is  again  es- 
tablished, when  the  whole  tragic  farce  is  again  re- 
peated. 

These  crises  are  crises  of  abundance,  and  they  will 
continue  so  long  as  hundreds  and  thousands  of  bosses 
are  engaged  in  suicidal  competition,  producing  goods 
without  regard  to  commercial  demand.  Industry  can 
only  be  regulated  by  socializing  production.  If  all  or- 
ders came  into  one  central  office  the  demand  would  be 
known,  and  production  could  proceed  accordingly.  The 
demand  would  also  be  ascertained  by  official  returns 
furnished  by  the  various  departments.  Collective  owner- 
ship of  the  great  means  of  production  and  distribution 
is  the  only  way  by  which  the  present  anarchy 
of  production  and  distribution  can  be  systematized. 
Social  ownership  would  transform  this  insanity  called 
business  into  a  sane  and  orderly  production  and 
distribution  of  wares.  Socialism  would  establish 
a  central  directing  authority,  a  thing  which  Herbert 
Spencer  says  belongs  to  every  highly  developed  organ- 
ism. Imagine  our  physical  organism  trying  to  do 
business  on  the  competitive  principle.  A  lone  violinist 
needs  no  djrecor,  he  can  start  and  stop  at  will,  but  an 


1 82       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

orchestra  needs  a  director.  Imagine  an  orchestra  in 
which  each  player  started  and  stopped  to  suit  his  own 
taste.  As  an  orchestra  needs  a  director  to  mark  the  time 
and  start  the  music,  so  our  economic  organism  must 
have  a  central  directing  authority  if  we  would  escape 
industrial  anarchy.  This  central  directing  authority 
would  be  supplied  by  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth. 
The  Co-operative  Commonwealth  would  be  but  the 
co-operative  factory  on  a  larger  scale.  All  modern  pro- 
duction is  co-operative.  What  Socialists  want  is  the 
application  to  national  production  of  the  principles  and 
methods  which  the  individual  applies  to  his  own  produc- 
tion; that  is,  co-operation,  unification  and  systemati- 
zation.  Look  at  any  of  our  large  productive  plants. 
.Here  you  see  a  central  regulating  authority,  and  each 
department  is  correlated  with  every  other  department. 
Take,  for  example,  the  production  of  wagons.  Suppose 
an  order  is  received  at  the  office  for  one  thousand 
wagons.  The  general  manager  at  once  gives  the  order 
to  the  superintendents  of  the  various  departments,  and 
they  in  turn  direct  the  foreman  of  each  branch,  who 
proceeds  to  set  the  laborers  at  work  to  produce  the 
requisite  parts.  All  departments  proceed  in  perfect  ac- 
cord, the  number  of  workers  being  so  adjusted  that  the 
work  progresses  simultaneously.  As  fast  as  the  parts 
are  completed  they  are  sent  to  the  finishing  room  where 
they  are  put  together.  When  each  department  has  com- 
pleted its  work  and  the  various  parts  are  united,  it  is 
found  that  there  is  no  excess  or  shortage  anywhere.  The 
thousand  wagons  stand  complete.  Now  contrast  this 
orderly  and  systematic  method  with  the  chaotic  and  hap- 
hazard procedure  in  our  national  production.  Each 
branch  of  the  national  factory,  like  that  of  the  individual, 
should  be  correlated  and  adjusted  with  every  other 
branch.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  there  must  be  a 


INDUSTRIAL  DEPRESSIONS.  183 

central  regulating  authority,  just  as  we  find  in  every  in- 
dividual industry,  which  shall  ascertain  the  demand  and 
regulate  the  forces  of  production  to  meet  it.  As  the 
orders  come  into  this  national  office,  they  would  be 
placed  with  the  heads  of  each  department,  who  in  turn 
would  give  to  each  branch  orders  to  produce.  A  suffi- 
cient number  of  men  would  be  employed  in  each  depart- 
ment to  meet  the  demand,  with  the  result  that  there 
would  be  no  excess  or  shortage  anywhere. 

Socialism,  then,  by  this  systematic  organization  of  in- 
dustry would  eliminate  this  cause  of  the  crisis — the  pres- 
ent planless  anarchical  procedure. 

Another  cause  of  depressions  and  crises,  also  inherent 
in  the  system  of  private  enterprise,  is  the  exploitation  of 
labor.  Labor  exploitation  renders  over-production  cer- 
tain, even  if  the  trust,  as  is  sometimes  claimed,  could 
eliminate  the  present  chaotic  method.  Under  the  wage 
system,  the  .product  of  the  producer  is  divided  into  two 
parts :  one  part  goes  to  labor  in  the  form  of  wages,  the 
other  to  capitalists,  landowners,  and  other  gentlemen  at 
large,  in  the  form  of  rent,  interest,  and  profits.  In  1890 
the  355,415  mechanical  and  manufacturing  establish- 
ments in  the  United  States  produced  a  total  product  of 
$9,372,437,283.  If  we  deduct  from  this  sum  the  cost  of 
the  raw  materials,  the  wear  and  tear  of  machinery,  in- 
cluding cost  of  repairs  on  buildings,  etc.,  which  expenses 
are  transferred  in  the  process  of  production  to  the  new 
product,  which  amounted  to  $5,162,044,076,  we  get  as 
the  new  values  created  $4,210,393,207.  The  number  of 
men,  women,  and  children  employed  in  the  production 
of  these  values  was  4,251,728,  and  their  wages  amounted 
to  $i,89i,296,i66.1  If  we  add  to  these  operators  the 

i  The  Statistics  of  the  nth  census  include  with  laborers  the 
officers,  firm  members  and  clerks,  which  constitute  9.78  per  cent. 


1 84     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

105,634  clerks  who  received  $89.788,900,  we  shall  have 
the  total  number  of  persons  employed  as  4,357,362,  and 
the  total  wages  received  as  $1,981,085,066.  Now  if  we 
deduct  the  total  wages  from  the  new  values  created  we 
find  that  the  profits  amounted  to  $2,229,308,141.  This 
profit  represents  surplus-value.  The  laborers,  then,  re- 
ceive but  about  47  per  cent,  of  the  wealth  they  produce. 
They  are  obliged  to  submit  to  this  fleecing  for  the  reason 
that  they  do  not  possess  the  machinery  of  production 
and  so  must  sell  their  labor-power  to  the  capitalist  at 
the  market  price,  which  is  determined  by  the  competition 
in  the  labor  market. 

Of  course,  if  laborers  receive  but  47  pe.r  cent,  of  the 
values  they  create,  they  can  buy  back  but  47  per  cent. 
of  the  total  product.  Nor  even  that,  for  the  value  here 
given  is  the  figures  of  the  factory  price  at  which  the 
manufacturer  sells  to  the  dealer  or  another  manufac- 
turer. But  workingmen  do  not  buy  at  factory  prices 
but  at  retail  prices.  To  the  factory  price  must  be  added 
.'the  profits  of  a  long  series  of  middlemen  and  retailers 
which  results  in  doubling  the  factory  price.  The  laborer, 
then,  when  he  goes  to  the  market  to  purchase  the  com- 
modities he  has  produced,  finds  that  instead  of  purchas- 

of  the  number  of  employees  given,  and  they  receive  17.17  per 
cent,  of  the  total  wages  paid.  The  figures  above  given  are  the 
number  of  persons  employed  and  wages  paid,  exclusive  of  firm 
members,  officers  of  corporations  and  clerks.  The  clerks,  how- 
ever, may  legitimately  be  added  to  the  wage-workeis.  The  num- 
ber of  officers,  firm  members  and  clerks,  are  given  as  461,049 
The  number  of  clerks  is  not  given  separately,  but  if  we  allow  only 
one  firm  member  or  officer  per  establishment  the  possible  maxi- 
mum number  of  clerks  was  105,634.  This  is  obtained  by  sub- 
tracting the  number  of  establishments  355,415,  from  the  number 
of  officers,  etc.,  461,049.  Now  if  we  grant  to  each  clerk  the  aver- 
age salary  of  8850,  the  amount  given  by  the  census  returns  to 
those  classed  under  this  head,  we  get  the  salary  of  the  105,634 
clerks  as  $89,788,900. 


INDUSTRIAL  DEPRESSIONS.  1 8$ 

ing  47  per  cent.,  he  is  only  able  to  buy  about  23  per 
cent,  or  24  per  cent.,  and  even  this  estimate  is  in  excess. 
When  we  take  into  consideration  money  spent  for  rent, 
doctor's  bills,  insurance,  pleasure,  etc.,  it  is  evident  that 
he  cannot  purchase  over  15  per  cent,  or  16  per  cent,  of 
the.  value  he  produces.  These  estimates  are  made  on 
manufacturing  industries  where  wages  are  the  highest. 
If  we  take  the  laboring  class  as  a  whole  they  cannot 
purchase  over  10  per  cent,  or  12  per  cent,  of  the  wealth 
they  bring  into  being.  This  being  true,  if  every  indus- 
try were  organized  into  a  trust  and  all  acted  in  perfect 
harmony,  laborers  could  not  be  continually  employed; 
for  to  utilize  all  the  economic  forces  would  mean  to  pro- 
duce in  excess  of  commercial  demand.  It  is  thus  that 
the  wage  system  has  become  a  social  curse. 

Between  the  producing  and  distributing  capitalists  the 
laborers  are  exploited  out  of  the  larger  portion  of  the 
wealth  they  produce.  They  are  thus  unable  to  consume 
the  product  of  their  toil.  The  capitalists,  on  the  other 
hand,  being  comparatively  small  in  number,  are  unable, 
even  by  their  best  efforts,  to  consume  their  portion  of  the 
product,  and  thus  a  large  surplus  is  left  on  their  hands 
for  which  there  is  no  commercial  demand.  We  are  thus 
confronted  by  a  condition  of  over-production,  or  rather 
under-consumption,  for  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  the 
former  so  long  as  men  are  in  need.  .What  is  meant  is 
that  those  who  possess  the  goods  do  not  need  them,  and 
those  who  need  them  have  not  the  means  of  purchasing 
them.  Were  laborers  paid  in  full  for  their  labor  they 
would  quickly  dispose  of  the  surplus.  But  as  produc- 
tion is  carried  on  for  profits  the  capitalist  does  not  pro- 
pose to  give  away  these  products  which  he  has  compelled 
the  laborers  to  give  up,  neither  will  he  produce  more 
until  he  can  dispose  of  the  goods  on  hand.  Production 
can  only  be  sustained  by  consumption  and  consumotion 


1 86    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

is  limited  by  wages.  The  wages  paid  will  not  buy  the 
products  produced.  Consequently  factories  are  closed, 
men  discharged,  and  their  families  reduced  to  degrada- 
tion and  starvation. 

How  to  procure  an  outlet  for  this  surplus  product 
which  has  been  withheld  from  the  wage  workers,  is  the 
great  question  of  the  capitalist  producer.  The  use  of 
machinery  has  so  increased  the  productivity  of  labor 
that,  unless  some  outlet  can  be  found,  production  must 
cease  at  intervals  until  the  excess  is  consumed.  It  does 
not  cease  because  the  needs  of  the  people  are  all  sup- 
plied, but  because  of  the  cessation  of  the  commercial  de- 
mand, due  to  the  limited  consuming  power  of  the  wage 
workers.  The  laborers  would  gladly  consume  more,  but 
their  wage  does  not  permit  them  to  do  so,  and  to  in- 
crease their  wages  would  mean  to  decrease  the  portion 
of  the  non-producers.  The  very  mention  of  this  remedy 
gives  the  capitalist  nervous  prostration.  The  only  other 
outlet  is  in  foreign  markets.  But  as  the  capitalist  be- 
gins to  compete  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  he  has  to 
reduce  his  cost  of  production  to  the  level  or  below  that 
of  the  foreign  competitors,  and  so  wages  are  reduced  to 
meet  the  pauper  labor  of  Europe.  Just  as  soon  as  an 
industry  reaches  the  point  of  development  where  it  pro- 
duces more  than  its  exploited  workers  can  buy,  then  it 
must  seek  the  world's  market,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  a 
protected  industry  does  not  help  the  matter  in  the  least. 
Most  of  our  industries  have  already  reached  that  stage 
and  their  managers  are  rapidly  adapting  their  businesses 
to  the  foreign  trade.  This  they  accomplish  by  introduc- 
ing new  and  improved  machinery  and  reducing  the  pay 
rolls  of  the  decreasing  number  of  hands  employed. 

While  the  United  States  pays  the  largest  wages  of  any 
country,  it  is  simply  because  of  the  stupendous  increase 
in  the  productivity  of  labor.  The  American  workmen 


INDUSTRIAL  DEPRESSIONS.  1 87 

are  more  productive  than  the  workmen  of  any  other 
country.  But  there  are  no  laborers  who  are  more  ex- 
ploited than  these  same  laborers  of  America.  They  re- 
ceive a  smaller  proportion  of  the  wealth  they  create,  are 
fleeced  more,  than  the  laborers  of  any  other  country  on 
the  face  of  the  earth. 

But  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  capitalist  class, 
they  are  unable  to  unload  all  the  surplus  upon  the  other 
nations.  Markets  have  failed  to  expand  in  proportion 
to  the  increase  of  production.  It  is  clear  that  a  con- 
stantly expanding  production  requires  a  constantly  ex- 
panding market,  and  where  such  is  not  the  case 
stagnation  occurs  and  crises  ensue.  As  laborers  are  con- 
tinually receiving  a  smaller  proportion  of  the  wealth 
they  create,  the  home  market  is  undermined,  for  they 
are  less  and  less  able  to  purchase  the  goods  they  pro- 
duce. Thus  the  surplus  grows  with  the  displacement  of 
labor  and  the  reduction  of  the  wages  of  the  laborers  em- 
ployed. While  the  machine  takes  the  place  of  the  labor- 
ers in  production  it  cannot  in  consumption.  When 
goods  were  chiefly  produced  by  hand  labor,  the  laborer 
received  wages  with  which  he  purchased  a  portion  of  the 
wealth  he  had  created.  But  when  he  was  supplanted  by 
the  machine  he  could  no  longer  be  a  consumer,  and  the 
commodities  which  he  thus  previously  consumed  were 
left  upon  the  markets.  And  not  only  these  commodities 
but  an  abundance  in  excess,  for  the  productivity  of  the 
machine  is  many  times  that  of  the  workman. 

This  growing  condition  has  heightened  the  need  of 
foreign  markets  as  an  outlet.  But  all  civilized  nations 
are  in  the  same  predicament,  with  the  result  that  where 
the  crisis  was  once  strictly  periodical  it  is  now  becoming 
permanent.  Over-production  has  become  chronic. 
While  foreign  markets  have  extended  they  have  not  kept 
pace,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  with  the  ever-increasing 


1 88    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

development  of  production.  But  there  is  a  limit  to  the 
extension  of  these  markets,  and  not  only  that,  but  the 
time  draweth  nigh  when  these  markets  will  begin  to 
contract.  Russia,  China,  Japan,  Australia,  and  the  East 
Indies  are  already  developing  into  industrial  states,  and 
will  soon  be  able  to  supply  their  own  wants.  These  na- 
tions are  beginning  to  produce  for  themselves ;  they  are 
adopting  our  inventions  and  improvements  and  will 
soon  cease  to  be  customers  and  become  competitors. 
Every  extension  of*  the  market  has  been  tantamount 
to  conjuring  up  a  new  competitor.  When  these  new  for- 
eign markets  are  closed,  what  will  be  the  result  ?  There 
is  but  one  answer.  The  whole  capitalistic  system  will 
fall.  It  will  end  in  the  bankruptcy  of  the  capitalist  so- 
ciety. This  cataclysm  will  engulf  the  whole  world  unless 
forestalled  by  the  Socialist  Commonwealth. 

We  have  now  seen  that  the  crisis  is  the  result  of  our 
planless  system  of  production  and  its  inherent  exploita- 
tion of  labor.  These  crises  will  continue  just  as  long  as 
our  present  system  of  industry  remains.  When  over- 
production or  under-consumption  is  the  very  basis  of 
our  present  wage  and  profit  system,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
we  have  industrial  depressions  and  crises  ? 

There  must  always  remain  under  the  present  order  a 
greater  or  less  glut  of  goods  upon  the  market  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  purchasing  power  of  the  people  is  in- 
sufficient to  clear  the  market  of  the  goods.  Even  if  la- 
borers were  not  exploited  by  the  producing  capitalist, 
the  distributing  capitalist,  by  adding  to  the  labor 
cost  of  commodities,  produces  a  gap  between  the 
producing  and  consuming  power  of  the  people, 
and  the  larger  the  profit  charged  the  greater  the 
gap.  This  condition  tends  to  intensify  and  so  ren- 
der the  depression  permanent.  In  periods  of  so-called 
prosperity  there  are  thousands,  even  millions,  unem- 


INDUSTRIAL  DEPRESSIONS.  189 

ployed.  Prosperity,  when  said  to  be  on  tap,  is  to-day  of 
little  or  no  benefit  to  the  common  people.  In  1898  and 
1899  there  was — so  we  are  told — a  period  of  unparelleled 
prosperity.  The  trusts  and  monopolists  in  general  made 
their  millions.  Did  the  laboring  class,  or  even  the  mid- 
dle class,  share  in  this  prosperity  ?  By  no  means.  Amid 
the  large  accumulation  of  profits  by  the  few,  there  were 
wage  reductions,  idleness,  and  destitution.  The  reason 
why  the  middle  class  suffers  at  such  times  is  the  concen- 
tration of  business  into  the  hands  of  the  trusts.  A  large 
volume  of  business  may  be  done,  but  owing  to  this  con- 
centration little  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  great  mass  of 
the  people.  Of  course,  laborers  cannot  expect  to  be 
greatly  benefited  by  such  prosperity,  for  the  work  prev- 
iously performed  by  them  is  now  largely  done  by  ma- 
chinery. The  only  kind  of  prosperity  possible  when 
capitalism  has  developed  to  its  present  stage,  is  the  pros- 
perity of  the  few.  The  greater  the  prosperity  of  the  few, 
the  worse  the  condition  of  the  many.  You  cannot  in- 
crease the  unearned  income  of  one,  without  taking  from 
the  earned  income  of  the  other. 

However,  I  am  finding  no  particular  fault  with  capital- 
ists. The  rate  of  profit  could  not  be  safely  reduced  to  the 
point  sufficient  to  bring  production  and  consumption 
into  harmony.  The  root  of  the  evil  lies  in  the  economic 
system  itself,  in  the  difficulties,  complexities,  risks,  and 
wastes  inherent  in  capitalism.  The  Socialist  method  is 
the  only  way  of  abolishing  the  disparity  between  the 
producing  and  consuming  power  of  the  people.  The 
only  remedy  for  depressions  and  crises  is  the  abolition 
of  production  for  sale  and  profit.  Prof.  Ely  says  that 
this  claim  is  well  founded,  "  because  crises  and  industrial 
depressions  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  competitive  sys- 
tem of  industry,  and  would  cease  to  afflict  society  with 
the  abolition  of  the  competitive  system." 


190      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

Under  Socialism,  then,  these  evils  would  be  impossi- 
ble. They  are  the  results  of  modern  industrial  methods. 
The  phenomenon  made  its  appearance  when  production 
for  sale  reached  the  world's  market,  and  has  grown  in 
severity  as  capitalism  has  developed.  The  root  of  the 
evil  inheres  in  capitalism  and  can  only  be  removed  by 
Socialism. 


LABOR-SA  VING  MACHINER  Y. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    PROBLEM    OF    LABOR-SAVING   MACHINERY. 

LABOR-SAVING  machinery  constitutes  one  of  the  most 
serious  economic  problems  of  the  day.  The  introduction 
of  these  mechanical  appliances  has  completely  revolution- 
ized industry,  and  is  rapidly  substituting  machinery  for 
men  in  every  field  of  production.  This  fact  is  generally 
recognized  by  intelligent  people,  although  now  and  then 
we  hear  someone  say  that  machinery  gives  employment 
to  more  labor  than  it  displaces.  This  statement  is  an 
heirloom  of  the  early  days  of  the  factory  system.  That 
men  should  put  it  forth  to-day  simply  shows  their  igno- 
rance of  the  changed  conditions  of  industry. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  early  days  of  modern  industry, 
although  machinery  greatly  displaced  handicraftsmen, 
still,  owing  to  the  development  of  the  factory  system, 
often  more  workmen  were  employed  than  were  dis- 
placed. This  was  due  directly  to  the  growth  of  the  fac- 
tory system,  to  the  building  of  new  mills  and  the  exten- 
sion of  old  ones.  But  here  we  need  to  note  that  while 
there  may  be  an  absolute  increase  in  the  number  of  la- 
borers employed,  there  is  a  relative  decrease  in  propor- 
tion to  the  total  capital  advanced.  As  we  shall  see,  the 
introduction  of  machinery  means  that  the  .constant  capi- 
tal increases  while  the  variable  decreases.  The  state- 
ment, then,  that  while  machinery  displaces  workmen  it 
gives  employment  to  more  than  it  displaces,  was  only 
true  during  the  period  of  transition  from  the  manufae- 
tural  age  to  that  of  modern  industry.  Since  the  age  of 


1 02      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

machinery  has  reached  its  present  development,  the  in- 
troduction of  new  methods  and  improved  processes  does 
not  result  in  the  final  employment  of  more  workmen, 
but  rather  in  increasing  the  number  of  unemployed. 

The  necessary  condition  for  the  employment  of  an 
increased  number  of  hands  in  any  industry  is  a  rapid 
growth  of  capital  invested  in  new  factories.  Modern  in- 
dustry long  since  reached  the  point  where  the  extension 
of  factories  is  sufficient  i6  absorb  the  men  displaced  by 
the  new  machinery.  This  absorption  was  merely  a  tem- 
porary phase  of  the  industrial  development,  and  was  sure 
to  end  as  soon  as  industry  had  reached  its  approximate 
growth.  The  phenomena  belonged  purely  to  the  first 
stages  of  modern  industry.  Since  this  era  of  production 
has  entered  the  stage  of  monopoly,  the  exact  reverse  is 
fehe  admitted  tendency.  The  development  of  industry 
under  the  syndicate  and  trust  does  not  consist  in  the  ex- 
tension of  factories,  but  the  opposite.  The  concentration 
of  business  has  resulted  in  closing  factories,  as  in  the  oil 
and  sugar  businesses,  where  a  few  establishments  now 
do  the  work  formerly  done  by  many.  The  Standard  Oil 
Trust,  for  example,  has  dispensed  with  the  services  of 
eight  thousand  seven  hundred  teams  of  horses,  wagons, 
etc.,  and  eleven  thousand  seven  hundred  men,  who  wera 
formerly  employed  in  handling  oil.  The  formation  of  the 
Chicago  beer  trust  is  another  illustration.  There  were 
thirteen  breweries,  and  each  had  its  bookkeeper,  clerks, 
salesmen,  deliverymen,  and  operatives,,  The  trust  did 
away  with  all  this  waste.  Says  Mr.  Baumgarti,  the  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  brewery  trust :  "  Economy  is  the 
watchword  and  a  great  saving  to  the  brewers  will 
be  accomplished  by  doing  away  with  large  office  forces 
and  transacting  all  business  from  this  office.  The  sole 
benefit  of  the  common  company  is  the  increase  of  profits 
by  cutting  down  the  number  of  employees,  by  large  cash 


LABOR-SA  VING  MA  CHINER  Y.  193 

purchases  and  by  correction  of  business  errors  common 
in  the  management  of  the  individual  businesses."  The 
tendency  of  competition  is  to  multiply  establishments, 
but  the  tendency  of  combination  is  exactly  the  reverse. 
The  only  effect  of  machinery  upon  labor  to-day  is  to 
decrease  its  value,  and  to  render  the  laborer  super- 
fluous. 

The  misconception  regarding  machinery  is  due  to  the 
failure  to  recognize  the  changed  condition  of  industry. 
This  misconception  takes  several  forms  which  I  will 
briefly  consider. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  machinery  which  displaces  la- 
borers also  sets  free  a  sufficient  amount  of  capital  to 
again  employ  them.  This  assumption  is  entirely  erron- 
eous. Suppose  in  a  modern  factory  two  hundred  men 
are  employed  with  a  capital,  say,  of  $6,000,  half  of  which 
is  constant  and  half  variable.1  Now  suppose  machinery 
is  introduced  costing  $1,500  and  capable  of  doing  the 
work  of  one  hundred  men.  This  would  transfer  $1,500 
from  variable  to  constant  capital.  The  total  capital  and 
product  would  remain  the  same,  but  the  machinery  now 
takes  the  place  of  half  the  number  of  men  employed; 
the  work  previously  performed  by  two  hundred  men  is 
now,  by  the  aid  of  the  new  machinery,  done  by  one 
hundred  men.  In  the  process  no  capital  is  liberated ;  the 
cost  of  the  machinery  equalled  the  cost  of  the  labor- 
power  saved.  But  now,  suppose  the  new  machinery 
which  saved  the  labor  of  one  hundred  men  had  cost  but 
$1,000,  then  the  $1,000  would  have  become  constant 
capital  and  $500  would  have  been  liberated:  This  $500 

1  Constant  capital  is  that  portion  of  capital  invested  in  the 
means  of  production.  It  is  called  constant  because  it  does  not 
change  its  value  during  the  productive  process.  Variable  capital 
is  that  portion  of  capital  invested  in  labor-power.  It  is  so  called 
because  it  changes  its  value  during  the  productive  process. 


194     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

however,  would  employ  but  a  third  of  the  one  hundred 
men  displaced  even  if  it  could  all  be  used  as  variable 
capital.  But  a  part  of  it  must  become  constant  capital 
before  any  of  it  could  become  re-employed.  Thus  the 
amount  remaining  for  the  re-employment  of  labor  would 
be  very  small  and  would  employ  but  a  few  men. 

Again,  it  is  assumed -that  the  labor  displaced  by  ma- 
chinery finds  employment  in  making  the  machines.  But 
as  machinery  is  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
labor-power,  the  supposition  that  the  labor  displaced  by 
machinery  finds  employment  in  making  the  machinery, 
is  seen  to  be  absurd.  Some  of  the  displaced  labor  can 
thus  find  employment,  but  only  a  portion.-  Were  all 
thus  displaced  to  find  employment  the  cost  of  the  ma- 
chine would  equal  the  cost  of  the  labor-power  displaced 
and  the  capitalist  would  make  nothing  in  the  transac- 
tion. The  capitalist  only  introduces  the  machine  when 
the  value  of  the  machine  is  less  than  the  value  of  the 
labor-power  displaced  by  it.  If  one  thousand  days'  labor 
is  embodied  in  the  machine,  and  the  machine  lasts  one 
year,  it  transfers  its  value  to  the  year's  product.  But  if 
the  machine,  during  the  year,  has  displaced  only  one 
thousand  days  of  labor,  the  capitalist  has  made  nothing 
by  using  the  machine.  If  the  labor-power  displaced  by 
using  the  machine  is  all  utilized  in  making  the  same 
machine,  of  course,  the  capitalist  might  as  well  have  paid 
for  the  labor-power  directly.  The  cost  in  one  instance 
is  the  same  as  in  the  other.  It  costs  as  much  to  produce 
the  machine  as  was  saved  by  its  employment.  In  such  a 
case  the  total  labor  embodied  in  a  commodity  is  not 
altered.  But  if  a  machine  which  embodies  a  thousand 
days'  labor  produces  more  during  its  life  than  a  laborer 
can  produce  in  a  thousand  days'  labor  with  his  tools,  then 
labor-power  has  been  saved  by  using  the  machine.  Were 
labor-power  not  thus  saved  the  machine  would  not  have 


LABOR-SAVING  MACHINERY.  195 

been  invented.  Its  very  purpose  is  to  increase  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  labor  and  so  save  labor-power.  This, 
however,  could  not  be  if  the  labor  cost  of  the  machine 
equalled  the  labor  displaced  by  it ;  or  in  other  words,  if 
the  labor  displaced  by  the  machine  could  find  employ- 
ment in  making  the  machine. 

But,  again,  it  is  assumed  that  as  machinery  greatly 
increases  the  productivity  of  labor  and  so  consumes  a 
larger  quantity  of  raw  materials,  that  this  increases  the 
demand  for  labor  in  these  fields  of  production,  and  so 
the  labor  displaced  is  compensated.  The  introduction 
of  machinery  into  a  certain  industry  may,  temporarily, 
increase  the  demand  for  labor  in  those  branches  which 
furnish  industry  with  the  raw  materials.  This,  however, 
is  on  the  supposition  that  machinery  has  not  yet  seized 
on  these  trades.  But  with  the  introduction  of  machin- 
ery into  these  supplementary  industries,  the  same  condi- 
tion would  exist  here  as  in  the  other  fields  invaded  by 
machinery.  Any  benefit,  then,  that  thus  accrued  to  labor 
would  be  only  temporary,  and  due  entirely  to  the  back- 
ward state  of  some  extractive  industries.  But  that  con- 
dition has  long  since  passed.  Machinery  has  now  in- 
vaded every  field  and  men  are  everywhere  thrown  out 
of  employment,  and  this  without  compensation.  They 
are  thus  rendered  unable  to  purchase  the  necessaries  of 
life,  and  other  industries  are  obliged  to  shut  down  for 
want  of  sale  of  their  products. 

Machinery,  then,  not  only  throws  workmen  out  of  em- 
ployment in  the  industries  where  it  is  introduced,  but 
also  in  other  industries  in  which  it  is  not  introduced. 
Machinery  is  but  a  means  for  producing  surplus-value. 
Like  every  other  source  of  increase  in  the  productive- 
ness of  labor,  it  but  cheapens  commodities,  and  so  lessens 
that  portion  of  the  working  day  in  which  the  laborer  toils 


I96      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

for  himself,  and  lengthens  the  portion  of  labor-time  ap- 
propriated by  the  employer. 

Machinery,  which  was  designed  to  be  of  service  to  the 
laborer  in  lightening  his  toil,  has  resulted,  under  private 
ownership,  in  the  laborer's  degradation.  It  is  the  ma- 
chine, the  mechanical  fellow  workman,  the  laborer  need 
fear.  Every  year  an  astonishing  amount  of  these  iron 
and  steel  workmen  are  brought  into  competition  with 
human  labor.  In  the  decade  from  1880  to  1890  the  new 
mechanical  power  put  in  operation  was  equivalent  to 
the  labor-power  of  forty  million  men.  In  the  light  of 
this  fact,  what  do  the  few  thousand,  or  even  million, 
immigrants  amount  to  ?  Were  the  capitalist  to  be  de- 
prived of  cheap  labor,  would  he  not  introduce  mechani- 
cal power,  and  gain  by  the  transaction  ?  Every  labor- 
saving  appliance  can  be  run  for  eight  cents  a  day  for 
every  man  displaced.  Here  is  the  pauper  labor  com- 
pared with  which  the  immigration  of  pauper  labor  from 
Europe  is  insignificant.  If  immigration  were  prohibited 
to-morrow,  it  would  have  scarcely  any  influence  upon 
the  competition  in  the  labor  market.  Improved  appli- 
ances would  soon  neutralize  any  temporary  advantage 
-that  might  accrue  to  labor.  The  machine,  then,  is  the 
real  competitor  of  the  laborer.  Instead  of  machinery 
giving  employment  to  more  labor  than  it  displaces  it 
but  displaces  workingmen  and  renders  human  labor  su- 
perfluous. 

Glance  for  a  moment  at  a  few  of  these  new  devices. 
There  is  a  new  electrical  riveting  machine  which  inserts 
1,200  rivets  in  ten  hours.  A  needle-making  machine 
has  lately  been  introduced  which  turns  out  260  needles 
a  minute.  A  new  can-making  device  is  in  operation 
which  may  be  bperated  by  a  child;  the  sheets  of  tin  are 
fed  into  it  at  one  end  and  at  the  other  64  cans  drop  out 
every  minute,  38,000  every  day,  An  expert  tinner  can 


LABOR-SAVING  MACHINERY. 

make  but  500  cans  a  day.  Each  machine,  then,  dis- 
places between  70  and  80  men  and  is  operated  by  a 
child.  A  can-labelling  machine  has  been  perfected  which 
labels  60  cans  a  minute.  There  is  a  self-feeding  platen 
press,  of  late  invention,  that  prints  10,000  or  more  cards 
in  an  hour,  registering  to  a  hair.  Cigar-making  ma- 
chines, which  turn  out  neatly  wrapped  cigars  at  the  rate 
of  3,000  a  day,  have  made  their  appearance.  A  bread- 
moulding  machine  has  been  invented  with  which  three 
persons  can  mould  over  20,000  loaves  a  day.  A  pea- 
shelling  machine  has  been  put  in  operation  by  which 
three  machines,  operated  by  five  to  eight  persons,  shell 
as  many  bushels  of  peas  as  a  hundred  hands  used  to. 
This  machine  works  automatically  and  will,  with  a  few 
improvements,  be  operated  by  one  person.  A  glass- 
blowing  machine  has  been  introduced  which  turns  out 
tumblers  at  the  cost  of  six  cents  a  hundred  against  fifty 
cents  by  the  old-hand  process.  In  the  cotton  industry 
one  man  and  two  boys  now  do  the  work  formerly  re- 
quiring one  thousand  spinners.  Among  weavers  one 
man  now  does  the  work  of  fifty.  In  making  horse-shoes 
one  man  can  do  the  work  which  years  ago  required  the 
labor  of  five  hundred  men.  In  making  nails  one  man 
can  now  do  the  work  formerly  done  by  one  thousand 
men.  One  man  can  to-day  set  as  much  copy  in  type  as 
used  to  require  from  six  to  ten  men.  With  the  Northope 
loom  one  man  now  does  the  work  of  ninety  men  with  the 
hand-loom.  In  the  steel  industry  three  men  with  the 
latest  machine  will  turn  out  in  ten  hours  two  hundred 
and  fifty  tons  of  steel  billets,  whereas  in  1892  it  required 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  men  to  do  the  same  work  in  the 
same  length  of  time.  In  boiler-making  thirty  men  now 
do  the  work  that  but  a  few  years  ago  required  five  hun- 
dred men.  In  agriculture  each  patent  binder  throws 
nearly  twenty  men  out  of  work,  each  cotton  harvester 


19*      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

displaces  thirty-eight  men,  each  steam-plow  twenty-one 
men.  Each  riveting  machine  displaces  twenty-one  men. 
Each  steam-roller  with  patent  pick  throws  out  of  work 
from  eighteen  to  thirty-eight  men. 

The  illustrations  might  be  indefinitely  multiplied,  but 
why  continue  ?  Is  it  not  evident  that  machinery  is  con- 
stantly displacing  labor  ?  Are  not  laborers  by  the  thou- 
sands and  millions  being  robbed  of  their  living  by  the 
introduction  of  labor-saving  machines  ? 

What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  Shall  we  break  up  the 
machines  ?  No,  socialize  them.  It  is  the  private  owner- 
ship of  machinery  that  throws  men  out  of  work.  Ma- 
chinery should  belong  to  those  who  make  it  and  use  it, 
and  not  to  a  few  idlers  who  are  thus  enabled  to  appro- 
priate all  its  benefits.  The  time  will  come  when  the  work 
of  the  world  will  be  accomplished  by  simply  pressing  an 
electric  button.  But  with  the  private  ownership  of  the 
button,  what  will  become  of  the  displaced  workingmen  ? 
Under  capitalism  production  is  only  carried  on  for 
profit.  But  production  can  only  be  sustained  by  con- 
sumption and  consumption  depends  upon  the  oppor- 
tunity for  employment.  But  when  a  few,  by  simply 
pressing  a  button,  produce  the  goods,  then  the  great 
multitudes  will  be  unemployed,  their  consumptive  power 
gone,  and  they  themselves  reduced  to  degradation  and 
starvation.  The  only  solution  of  this  condition  is  to 
socialize  the  electric  button.  If  society  expects  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  mechanical  invention  these  instruments  must 
be  socially  owned. 

Under  Socialism  machinery  would  result  in  a  blessing 
to  all.  Mechanical  inventions  would  then  serve  labor 
instead  of  competing  with  it  as  to-day.  When  the  time 
came,  through  the  introduction  of  new  inventions,  that 
all  the. needs  of  the  people  were  supplied  in  abundance, 
then  further  improvements  would  be  applied  to  reducing 


LABOR-S A  VING  MA  CHINER  Y.  1 99 

the  hours  of  labor.  The  only  way  that  machinery  will 
be  of  service  to  labor  is  for  labor  to  own  the  machinery. 
The  collective  ownership  of  machinery  is  the  only  solu- 
tion of  the  problem. 


200      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS. 

I.   THAT  VALUE  is  DETERMINED  BY  CAPITALIST  COST 
OF  PRODUCTION. 

THIS  economic  error  is  a  very  common  one.  The 
phrase,  cost  of  production,  is  used  by  political  econo- 
mists to  denote  the  capitalist  cost,  but  they  do  not  agree 
among  themselves  in  regard  to  the  items  which  should 
be  included.  While  -some  include  wages,  replacement, 
interest,  rent,  insurance,  taxes,  etc.,  others  limit  the  cost 
to  wages  and  replacement ;  that  is,  cost  of  labor,  cost  of 
raw  materials,  and  cost  of  tools.  The  latter  represents 
the  real  capitalist  cost.  We  need  to  note  here,  particu- 
larly, that  by  the  cost  of  labor  they  mean  its  cost  to  the 
capitalist,  which  depends  upon  the  cost  of  the  laborer's 
living.1  They  entirely  overlook  the  important  distinction 
between  the  exchange-value  and  the  use-value  of  labor- 
power.  In  this  way  it  is  sought  to  cover  up  the  whole 
method  of  capitalist  exploitation. 

Now  the  value  of  a  commodity,  or  the  cost  of  produc- 

1  The  "  cost,"  "price  "  or  "  value  of  labor,"  as  used  by  politi- 
cal economists,  is  what  Marx  calls  an  "  irrational  expression  for 
the  value  of  labor-power."  Remember,  it  is  labor-power — the 
capacity  for  labor — that  the  laborer  sells.  As  stated  by  Mr. 
Hyndman,  "  What  the  human  beings  without  property  are  so 
anxiously  trying  to  sell  is  therefore  not  labor  but  the  power  to 
labor."  We  should  subtitute  for  the  popular  inaccurate  expres- 
sion "  cost"  or  "  value  of  labor,"  the  scientific  phrase  "value  of 
labor-power."  We  cannot  be  too  careful  in  our  use  of  terms. 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  2OI 

tion  which  regulates  the  price,  is  determined  by  the 
quantity  of  labor  embodied  in  the  product.  The  three 
factors  of  production  are  the  living  labor,  the  raw  mater- 
ials, and  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  tools  or  implements. 
The  sum  of  these  factors  represents  the  labor  socially 
necessary  for  the  production  of  a  commodity.  Thus,  if 
in  the  production  of  a  commodity  the  raw  materials  cost 
$3  and  the  wear  of  the  tools  represents  $i,  and,  say,  this 
$4  represents  the  value  of  two  days'  labor  of  twelve  hours 
each,  then  we  have  the  first  two  factors  embodying  two 
working  days.  Now  if  these  means  of  production  can 
be  transformed  into  the  finished  product  by  six  hours' 
labor,  then  the  commodity  wrill  cost  two  and  one-half 
working  days.  The  finished  product,  then,  containing 
two  and  one-half  days'  labor  is  worth  $5.  But  this  is 
what  it  costs  the  capitalist — $4  in  raw  materials  and 
tools,  and  $i  in  labor-power.  If  the  product  is  sold  for 
$5  it  is  evident  that  the  capitalist  will  make  no  profit. 
But  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  process  for  profit.  He 
rrmst  find  some  factor,  which,  in  the  labor  process,  is 
capable  of  producing  more  value  than  he  paid  for  it.  He 
first  looks  at  the  raw  materials  and  instruments  of  pro- 
duction. But  these  are  implacable.  They  change  their 
shape  during  the  process  of  manufacture,  but  their  value 
does  not  change ;  it  disappears  in  one  form  only  to  re- 
appear in 'another,  but  with  no  increase.  The  value  of 
these  factors  is  simply  transferred  to  the  new  product. 
Finding  no  help  here  he  now  turns  to  the  labor-power. 
He  perceives  that  the  laborer  uses  a  certain  quantity  of 
the  necessities  of  life  and  that  these  can  be  produced  in 
six  hours'  labor,  and  are  worth  $i.  "Well,"  says  the 
capitalist,  "  there  is  no  reason  why  the  workingman 
should  not  work  twelve  hours  per  day ;  he  produces  his 
keep  in  six  hours,  and  so  I  shall  demand  that  he  work 
the  other  six  hours  for  me  .free  gratis."  The  extra 


202     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

material  is  supplied  and  the  laborer  is  kept  at  work  for 
twelve  hours,  consuming  twice  as  much  of  the  means  of 
production.  The  value,  then,  of  the  product  produced 
in  twelve  hours  is  double  that  produced  in  six  hours. 
But  it  has  not  cost  the  capitalist  twice  as  much  ($10), 
he  has  paid  out  but  $9, — $6  for  raw  material,  $2  for  wear 
and  tear  of  implements  and  $i  for  labor-power.  In  other 
words,  the  capitalist,  while  paying  only  $i  for  his  labor- 
power,  makes  it  operate  not  six  but  twelve  hours,  in  which 
time  it  consumes  $6  of  raw  material  instead  of  $3,  and  $2 
of  the  tools  of  production  instead  of  $i,  and  so  produces 
a  product  which  embodies  five  working  days  instead  of 
two  and  one-half,  and  is,  therefore,  worth  $10  instead 
'of  $5.  But  the  capitalist  has  paid  for  onb  four  ancj  one- 
half  days'  labor.  He  has  paid  in  full  for  the  labor 
embodied  in  the  raw  materials  and  •implements  of  pro- 
duction used,  but  not  so  for  the  livmyj  Jabor.  The  product 
embodies  twelve  hours'  living  labor,  but  the  capital- 
ist has  paid  for  but  six  hours.  The  finished  product, 
then,  contains  six  hours  surplus-labor  and  represents  $i. 
The  laborer  has  been  exploiter  out  of  one  half  the  value 
of  his  toil.  This  surplus-value  is  unpaid  labor. 

The  reason  that  the  laborer  is  thus  fleeced  is,  that 
under  the  capitalist  system,  labor-power  is  an  article  of 
merchandise,  which  th*  employer  purchases,  the  same 
as  any  other  merchandise,  at  its  exchange-value,  and,  as 
with  every  other  merchandise,  he  gets  its  use-value.  The 
use-value  of  labor-power  is  its  productivity.  It  is  prized 
by  the  capitalist  because  it  is  capable  of  producing  more 
value  than  it  costs.  We  have  seen  that  the  raw  materials, 
machines,  etc.,  u^.i  in  production,  create  no  additional 
wealth.  Their  exchange-value  simply  passes  over  and 
becomes  embodied  in  the  new  product.  The  merchan- 
dise labor-p'vwer,  on  the  other  hand,  does  produce  ad- 
ditional wealth.  The  use-value  of  labor-power  produce* 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  203 

more  value  than  the  exchange-value  amounts  to.  This 
additional  value  is  capitalist  fleecings. 

We  are  now  able  to  see  clearly  the  difference  between 
the  capitalist  cost  and  the  labor  cost.  It  is  the  difference 
between  the  exchange-value  and  the  use-value  of  labor- 
power.  The  labor  cost  is  the  amount  of  social  labor  em- 
bodied in  a  commodity.  In  the  above  example  three  days 
represented  the  raw  material,  one  day  the  tools  consumed, 
and  one  day  labor-power — in  all  five  days,  which,  at 
$2  a  day  equals  $10.  The  capitalist  cost  deals  with  what 
this  social  labor  costs  the  capitalist.  He  has  to  pay  full 
value  for  the  labor  embodied  in  the  raw  material  (three 
days  at  $2  a  day,  equalling  $6),  and  for  the  tools  con- 
sumed (one  day  at  $2  a  day),  but  with  the  labor-power, 
instead  of  paying  $2  for  the  day,  he  purchases  it  for  $i, 
thus  making  the  total  cost  to  him  but  $9.  He  thus  makes 
$i  profit,  the  difference  between  the  exchange-value  and 
the  use-value  of  labor-power. 

This  reveals  clearly  the  method  of  exploitation.  Labor 
has  been  fleeced  out  of  one-half  of  the  product  it  created ; 
in  other  words,  it  has  replaced  its  cost  of  production  two- 
fold. In  spite  of  this  obvious  fact  we  are  told  by  politi- 
cal economists  that  labor,  having  received  its  cost  of  liv- 
ing, has  received  a  full  economic  equivalent  for  its  con- 
tribution to  the  product,  a  statement  both  confusing  in 
theory  and  fallacious  in  fact. 

By  cost  of  production,  then,  we  mean  labor  cost — the 
labor  socially  necessary  to  produce  a  commodity.  Soci- 
ally necessary  labor  means  the  average  quantity  of  com- 
mon labor  measured  by  time,  which  on  an  average  is 
requisite,  by  the  implements  and  methods  generally 
used,  to  produce  a  commodity. 

Now  let  us  note  how  this  principle  works  under  the 
profit  system.  All  manufacturers  producing  under  nor- 
mal conditions  realize  normal  profits.  If,  for  any 


204    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

reason,  a  manufacturer  is  unable  to  adopt  the  methods 
which  have  come  into  general  use,  his  cost  of  production 
will  exceed  the  average  cost  which  determines  values, 
and  so  he  will  receive  smaller  profits.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  manufacturer  with  exceptional  advantages,  due 
perhaps  to  some  new  mechanical  appliance,  may  be  able 
to  produce  at  less  cost  than  the  average  and  so  reap  an 
abnormal  profit.  Prices  being  determined  by  the  aver- 
age cost  of  production  he  will  sell  at  the  regular  price 
regardless  of  his  cost.  But  as  soon  as  his  new  method 
becomes  generally  used,  a  new  value  is  established  and 
prices  fall  to  the  new  level.  This  deprives  him  of  his 
special  advantage  and  forces  all  who  are  not  able  to  in- 
troduce the  new  implements  into  bankruptcy. 

Thus,  suppose  the  socially  necessary  labor  embodied 
in  a  pair  of  shoes  is  one  hour.  A  manufacturer  intro- 
duces an  improved  machine  by  which  two  pairs  can  be 
-produced  in  the  same  time.  So  long  as  he  is  able  to 
maintain  his  secret,  he  can  secure  an  extraordinary 
profit.  But  in  the  course  of  time  his  invention,  or  one 
equally  effective,  is  adopted  by  other  manufacturers  and, 
as  these  improvements  become  general,  the  social  labor 
embodied  in  shoes  falls  by  one-half  and  prices  are  gradu- 
ally adjusted  to  the  new  level.  Remember,  it  is  not  in- 
dividual labor  but  the  social  labor  that  determines  value. 

Although  the  individual  manufacturer  reduces  the  cost 
of  production  that  does  not  affect  the  social  cost.  It  is 
only  when  the  social  cost  is  lowered  that  values  fall. 
After  the  change  is  made  some  may  continue  to  use  the 
old  methods,  but  for  all  that,  the  product  of  such  labor 
would  represent  but  one  half  hour  of  social  labor,  and 
the  price  would  soon  fall  to  that  level.  The  former  labor 
and  product  would  then  be  governed  by  the  new  social 
standard.  Values  are  constantly  falling  as  the  productiv- 
ity of  labor  is  increased.  This  lowering  of  prices,  in 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  2O$ 

accord  with  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of  commodities, 
results  in  innumerable  failures.  A  manufacturer  can 
continue  business  so  long  as  his  capitalist  cost  does  not 
equal  the  social  labor  cost  which  fixes  prices.  But  as 
soon  as  the  rapidly  falling  social  labor  cost  reaches  his 
capitalist  cost  of  production  he  is  obliged  to  suspend 
operations. 

Thus,  suppose  in  the  production  of  cotton  cloth  the 
social  cost  is  4  cents  a  yard,  and  the  capitalist  cost  3 
cents,  leaving  i  cent  profit.  But  there  is  now  and  then 
a  manufacturer  whose  capitalist  cost  of  making  cotton 
cloth  is,  from  various  causes,  such  as  inferior  skill,  in- 
sufficient capital,  inferior  machinery,  location,  etc.,  3^2  to 
3^  cents  a  yard.  Now  suppose  that  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  machinery  the  value  of  cotton  cloth  falls  to 
3  cents  a  yard  and  the  capitalist  cost  to  2  cents;  it  is 
evident  that  those  who  were  producing  under  disadvan- 
tageous circumstances,  on  the  narrow  margin  of  l/2  to 
Ys  of  a  cent  a  yard,  would  be  forced  out  of  business. 
For  if  they  were  unable  to  adopt  the  general  methods 
before  the  change,  they  certainly  would  not  be  equal  to 
the  emergency  now.  It  is  among  this  class  of  producers 
that  bankruptcies  occur,  and  it  is  not  necessary  for  a 
revolution  in  industrial  methods  to  cause  their  ruin. 
They  are  the  first  to  succumb  in  industrial  depressions.  An 
over  supply  of  goods  depreciates  the  market  price  below 
their  value,  and  those  producing  on  narrow  margins  are 
forced  to  abandon  their  enterprises. 

Values,  then,  do  not  depend  upon  the  capitalist  cost 
of  production,  or,  as  some  have  erroneously  supposed, 
upon  the  cost  of  producing  the  most  expensive  portion 
of  the  supply,  but  upon  the  average  cost  of  production ; 
that  is,  upon  the  socially  necessary  cost  of  production. 
This  cost,  under  normal  conditions,  determines  prices; 
that  is,  under  such  conditions  the  market  price  of  a  com- 


206      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

modity  coincides  with  its  value.  But  conditions,  how- 
ever, are  not  always  normal,  and  we  frequently  find 
prices  varying  from  the  socially  necessary  cost.  This  is 
due  to  supply  and  demand  and  to  what  has  been  called 
"  economic  perturbations." 

By  "  economic  perturbations  "  is  meant  those  fluctua- 
tions in  prices,  especially  where  there  are  various  prices 
for  the  same  article  in  the  same  market,  which  are  due 
to  ignorance  of  the  facts  or  because  the  parties  are  not 
free  to  act  in  accordance  with  their  knowledge  and  in- 
terests. In  all  such  exchanges  one  gets  more  and  the 
other  less  than  an  equivalent.  Such  exchanges  are  in- 
imical to  one  of  the  parties  and  it  is  clear  that  he  would 
not  submit  to  it  if  he  knew  it  and  were  free  to  act  other- 
wise. Such  perturbations  are  greater  in  the  retail  market 
than  in  the  wholesale,  and  greatest  in  those  sections  of 
the  retail  trade  where  poverty  and  ignorance  abound. 
The  ignorant  consumer  is  imposed  upon  both  as  to  qual- 
ity and  price  of  commodities.  The  poor  are  often  under 
obligations  to  the  shopkeeper  and  so  not  free  to  trade 
elsewhere. 

These  variations,  however,  tend  to  regulate  them- 
selves. As  they  involve  loss  to  either  producer  or  con- 
sumer, their  interests  will  lead  them  to  avoid  the  disad- 
vantageous exchanges  just  as  soon  as  they  know  the 
facts.  Supply  and  demand,  also,  as  is  well  known,  tend 
to  an  equilibrium.  In  considering  the  law  which  regu- 
lates values  we  eliminate  these  uneconomic  conditions 
and  consider  the  primary  law  in  its  purity.  This  is  the 
true  scientific  method :  first  establish  the  law  and  then 
you  are  free  to  consider  the  perturbing  or  incidental 
causes  which  affect  it.  Many  who  are  not  careful  in 
analysis  have  fallen  into  error  and  mistaken  one  of  the 
mere  incidents  for  the  law  itself.  We  cannot  be  too  care- 
ful in  our  analysis. 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  207 

It  has  now  been  clearly  shown  that  value  is  not  de- 
termined by  the  capitalist  cost  of  production.  It  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  this  error  be  clearly  com- 
prehended. 

2.  THAT  THE  INTERESTS  OF  LABORERS  AND  CAPITALISTS 
ARE  IDENTICAL. 

We  hear  much  talk,  by  the  defenders  of  the  present 
order,  of  the  harmony,  partnership,  and  identity  of  in- 
terests between  labor  and  capital.  It  is  true,  there  is 
harmony  between  labor  and  capital,  but  not,  as  our 
friends  wish  to  imply,  between  laborers  and  capitalists. 
Those  who  are  fond  of  declaiming  about  this  harmony 
utterly  fail  to  recognize  the  changed  methods  of  produc- 
tion. 

When  the  laborer  and  capitalist  were  united  in  the 
same  person,  as  in  the  days  of  individual  production, 
there  was  a  most  complete  harmony.  But  when  these  func- 
tions are  separated,  as  is  the  case  in  modern  industry, 
there  is  nothing  but  discord.  The  interests  of  one  are 
diametrically  opposed  to  those  of  the  other.  The  wealth 
produced  by  labor,  as  we  have  seen,  is  divided  into  two 
parts.  One  portion  goes  to  the  laborers  in  the  form  of 
wages,  the  other  portion  is  divided  into  rent,  interest, 
and  profit,  and  pocketed  by  non-producers.  It  is  because 
the  capitalist  has  monopolized  the  means  of  production 
that  he  is  able  to  appropriate  a  portion  of  labor's  prod- 
uct. It  is  thus  that  capital  becomes  productive.  Its 
productivity  consists  in  its  spongy  capacity  of  absorbing 
surplus-labor.  This  becomes  clear  when  we  glance  at 
the  nature  of  production. 

All  leading  industries  to-day  are  joint-stock  concerns, 
and  a  capitalist  may  hold  stock  in  a  score  of  such  indus- 
tries. He  purchases,  say,  $10,000  worth  of  stock  in  each 


PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

of  these  industries,  of  which,  perhaps,  he  knows  nothing. 
His  broker  has  told  him  that  they  are  paying  invest 
ments  and  that  is  all  he  cares.  He  never  goes  to  the 
factories  or  even  to  the  towns  in  which  they  are  located. 
He  simply  takes  the  stock  and  locks  it  up  in  his  safe,  and , 
at  the  end  of  three  months  receives  his  dividends.  But 
where  do  these  dividends  come  from  ?  The  capitalist, 
surely,  has  not  produced  them.  The  answer  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  find.  Take  the  cotton  factory  as  an  illustration. 
Here,  say,  1000  men  have  worked  for  three  months  and 
have  produced  a  certain  amount  of  cotton  cloth.  This 
is  transported  to  the  market  and  exchanged  for  money. 
From  the  money  received  for  the  product  there  is  first 
deducted  the  cost  of  the  raw  materials  and  the  wear  and 
tear  of  machinery.  The  balance  is  divided  into  two  about 
equal  portions,  one  of  which  is  given  to  the  laborers  in 
the  form  of  wages  and  the  other  portion  is  called  profita 
and  is  divided  among  the  capitalists  in  the  form  of  divi' 
dends.  Now,  note,  the  whole  product  was  created  by 
labor;  the  stockholders  render  no  service  whatever. 
Dividends,  then,  arise  from  the  fact  that  the  laborers  d& 
not  get  the  entire  wealth  they  produce.  Now  we  have 
seen  that  the  product  which  labor  produces  is  divided 
into  two  portions,  and  it  is  axiomatic  that  a  thing  cannot 
be  divided  into  two  shares  so  as  to  increase  the  portion 
of  each.  If  the  laborer  produces  $6  worth  of  wealth  a 
day  and  the  capitalist  keeps  $3,  there  is  only  $3  left  for 
the  laborer.  If  the  capitalist  keeps  $5  there  is  only  $i 
left.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  laborer  can  secure 
$5  there  is  but  $i  left  for  the  capitalist,  and  if,  perchance, 
the  laborer  could  keep  all  the  wealth  he  creates,  then 
there  would  be  none  left  for  the  capitalist  and  he  would 
have  to  go  to  work.  Thus  we  see  that  as  wages  and 
iurplus-value  are  both  parts  of  the  product  of  labor,  one 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  209 

cannot  be  increased  without  decreasing  the  other,  and 
vice  versa. 

From  this  it  is  evident  that  the  interests  of  laborers 
and  capitalists  are  not  identical.  It  is  to  the  interest  of 
each  to  get  as  large  a  portion  of  the  product  as  possible. 
The  success  of  one  means  the  failure  of  the  other. 
Indeed,  the  harmony  between  laborers  and  capitalists  is 
like  the  harmony  between  the  horse-leech  and  its  victim, 
or  the  flea  and  the  dog.  The  capitalist,  like  all  parasites, 
lives  off  of  others. 

Many  superficial  persons  have  been  led  to  consider  the 
interests  of  laborers  and  capitalists  identical  through  a 
failure  to  distinguish  between  capital  and  capitalists.  La- 
borers could  not  get  along  very  well  without  capital,  but 
they  could  do  very  nicely  without  the  capitalists.  If  all 
the  capitalists  should  take  it  into  their  heads  to  emigrate, 
industry  would  not  be  greatly  disturbed  for,  in  fact,  the 
directing  function  once  performed  by  the  capitalist  has 
been  transferred  to  hired  employees.  In  fact,  we  mean 
by  capitalist,  one  who  possesses  wealth  which  brings  an 
income  without  personal  exertion.  The  capitalist  to-day 
is  purely  a  useless  organ  in  production.  We  find  in  all 
nature  that  as  soon  as  an  organ  is  redundant  it  is  elimin- 
ated. The  capitalist  must  pay  the  penalty  that  nature 
has  imposed  upon  all  useless  functionaries. 

We  are  sometimes  told  that  if  we  antagonize  the  capi- 
talists they  will  take  their  capital  and  go  to  Europe. 
Would  to  Heaven  they  would  go  somewhere,  but  if  they 
should  we  need  not  fear  their  taking  their  capital  with 
them.  Imagine  a  Vanderbilt  taking  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral R.  R.  with  him,  or  an  Astor  his  valuable  city  lots  ! 
No,  capitalists  may  go  but  they  will  be  obliged  to  leave 
the  capital  which  they  have  fleeced  from  labor  behind. 
But  why  should  they  emigrate?  If  they  go  to  Italy  they 
would  be  confronted  by  40,000  Socialists,  if  to  Holland 


210     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

by  300,000,  if  to  France  by  1,000,000,  if  to  Germany  by 
2,125,000,  if  to  Belgium  by  500,000,  etc.,  etc.  There  is 
not  a  civilized  country  to-day  in  which  Socialism  is  not 
a  growing  force.  The  capitalist,  then,  cannot  escape  his 
doom  by  emigration.  The  mighty  rising  tide  of  the  in- 
ternational Socialist  movement  will  soon  seal  the  doom 
of  the  capitalists.  But  we  bear  no  antagonism  to  capital- 
ists as  individuals,  and  have  no  objection  to  their  remain- 
ing with  us  and  becoming  useful  members  of  society. 
Socialism  will  soon  establish  harmony  between  laborers 
and  capitalists  by  setting  the  latter  at  work. 

The  antagonism  between  the  capitalist  and  proletariat 
class  is  due  to  the  contradiction  between  the  social  pro- 
duction and  capitalist  appropriation.  The  instruments, 
method  and  product  of  production  are  now  social,  but 
the  form  of  appropriation  remains  the  same  as  in  the 
days  of  small  production  when  the  laborer  owned  his 
tools  and  consequently  the  product.  The  present  social 
instruments  of  production  are  incompatable  with  the  old 
method  of  appropriation.  Social  production  with  indi- 
vidual appropriation  means  individual  appropriation  of 
the  products  of  social  labor.  Private  property  in  the 
instruments  of  production  is  becoming  every  day  more 
and  more  incongruous  with  the  nature  of  those  instru- 
ments. Thus  the  interests  of  laborers  and  capitalists  are 
becoming  more  and  more  antagonistic  with  the  develop- 
ment of  modern  industry.  A  failure  to  recognize  this 
contradiction  in  the  capitalist  system  has  led  to  many 
economic  errors  of  which  this  is  by  no  means  the  least 
important.  The  antagonistic  interests  of  laborers  and 
capitalists  are  not  incidental  but  inherent  in  our  present 
system  of  industry. 

The  apologist  cannot  longer  hoodwink  the  laborers 
into  believing  that  their  interests  are  identical  with  those 
of  their  exploiters.  The  working  class  is  beginning  to 


POP  ULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  2 1 1 

study  the  economic  question,  which  means  that  such 
errors  will  soon  be  dispelled. 

3.   THAT  LABOR  is  BETTER  OFF  TO-DAY  THAN  EVER 
BEFORE. 

Those  who  assume  that  labor  is  better  off  to-day  than 
ever  before  consider  but  one  side  of  the  problem.  A 
comparison  of  labor's  condition  for  the  last  six  cen- 
turies shows  many  ups  and  downs.  Its  pathway  has 
not  been  one  of  gradual  progress  or  decline.  While  la- 
bor to-day  is  better  off  than  during  the  last  half  of  the 
eighteenth  and  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  centuries, 
it  is  far  from  regaining  its  golden  age, — the  fifteenth 
century. 

The  question  of  labor's  condition  must  be  viewed  from 
two  aspects,  the  absolute  and  the  relative.  Viewed  from 
the  absolute  standpoint  the  laborer  may  enjoy  more 
privileges,  and  those  fortunate  enough  to  secure  steady 
employment  may  often  have  more  of  the  necessities  of 
life  to-day  than  in  years  gone  by.  But  viewed  from  the 
relative  standpoint — his  condition  as  compared  with  the 
other  classes  of  society — it  is  evident  that  there  is  a 
greater  gulf  to-day  separating  him  from  the  classes 
above  him  than  ever  before.  Even  where  the  laborer  re- 
ceives more  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  he  receiver/ a  less 
share  of  the  product  than  he  did  in  the  despised  Middle 
Ages.  Labor  is  exploited  to-day  more  than  it  was  then ; 
it  is  obliged  to  give  up  more  of  the  value  which  it  creates 
than  in  those  days.  Can  labor  really  be  said  to  be  better 
off  in  the  true  sense  when  it  is  obliged  to  submit  to 
greater  exploitation  ?  Is  labor  gaining  ground  when  its 
fleecings  are  increasing  ?  If  any  laborer  is  better  off 
to-day  than  formerly  his  condition  is  only  accidental  and 
temporary.  As  a  whole  labor  is  relatively  worse  off,  and 


2 1 2      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

even  absolutely,  it  is  not  as  well  off  as  it  was  in  1872. 
The  worst  condition  of  labor,  as  we  have  already  noted, 
was  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  After 
awhile  its  condition  began  to  improve  and  so  continued 
up  to  the  sixties,  but  even  then  it  had  not  relatively  re- 
gained its  status  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Since  1872  it 
has  been  on  the  downward  grade  both  relatively  and 
absolutely. 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  statistics.  In  the  report 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  for 
1885  the  data  for  nine  industries  are  given,  which  show 
that  the  percentage  of  the  net  product  paid  as  wages  fell 
from  598/10  per  cent,  in  1850  to  482/10  per  cent,  in 
1880.  The  compilers  then  take  from  the  United  States 
Census  the  same  data  for  all  industries  in  the  country 
and  find  that  51  per  cent,  of  this  net  product  was  paid 
in  wages  in  1850  and  only  48  i/io  per  cent,  in  1880,  and 
say :  "  It  appears  that  when  the  field  is  broadened  so  as 
to  include  the  entire  manufacturing  industries  of  the 
country,  labor's  share'  of  the.  net  product  has  declined 
from  51  per  cent,  to  48  i/io  per  cent." 

A  comparison  of  the  statistics  of  1890  with  those  of 
1880  show  a  still  further  decline.  The  statistics  of  1890 
show  that  labor  received  that  year  but  47.03  per  cent, 
of  the  net  product  and  the  capitalists  52.97  per  cent. 
These  facts  show  beyond  controversy  that  labor's  share 
in  the  product  is  not  increasing,  but  the  reverse. 

Now  let  us  look  at  wages.  I  wish  first  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  statistics  furnished  by  the  Senate  Finance 
Committee  of  1893.  The  Aldrich  report  from  this  com- 
mittee is  valueless  owing  to  its  political  aim.  The  con- 
ceded partisan  spirit  of  the  report  necessitates  throwing 
away  the  work  done  by  the  committee's  experts  and  re- 
turning to  the  original  reports  made  by  the  employers. 
Here  we  find  given  (see  pages  110  and  in)  the  tables 


POP  ULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.       2 1 3 

containing  wages  paid  in  all  industries  in  1873  and  1891. 
As  I  cannot  take  the  space  to  insert  these  tables  I  will 
simply  give  the  summarized  statement,  which  is  that  the 
average  wages  in  urban  industries  in  1873  was  $2.04, 
and  in  1891,  $1.69.  According  to  the  Connecticut  Labor 
Report  and  the  Massachusetts  "  Statistics  of  Manufac- 
turers," the  nominal  rate  of  wages  in  1894  had  declined 
about  7  per  cent,  below  the  level  of  1892,  while  the  yearly 
income  of  laborers  had  been  still  further  reduced  by  the 
lack  of  employment. 

So  much  for  urban  industries.  Now  let  vis  look  at 
mining.  Here,  also,  I  can  give  only  the  summary.  The 
returns  give  the  average  wages  in  currency  in  1873  as 
$2.14,  and  in  1891  as  $1.58.  The  average  in  gold  in 
1873  as  $1.90,  and  in  1891  as  $1.58.  Since  1891  miners' 
wages  have  constantly  fallen.  The  Michigan  Labor  Re- 
port of  1894  shows  a  reduction  in  wages  since  1890  of 
20  per  cent. 

There  yet  remains  agriculture  to  be  considered.  Here, 
also,  we  find  the  same  general  decline.  Comparing  the 
Massachusetts  Labor  Report  for  1872  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts statistics  in  the  national  reports  mentioned,  we 
find  that  agricultural  wages  with  board  in  1872  was 
$27.52  per  month  and  in  1890,  $18.50.  In  corroboration 
of  this  I  wish  to  cite  Prof.  Dodge,  Statistician  of  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  the  highest  authority  on  the 
subject,  whose  inquiries  consists  of  nine  statistical  in- 
vestigations, covering  a  period  of  26  years,  from  1866  to 
1893.  His  investigations  show  that  the  wages  of  regular 
farm  labor  have  decreased  about  31  per  cent,  and  those 
of  transient  labor  about  40  per  cent.  Other  statistics 
might  be  cited,  but  these  are  sufficient  to  show  the  ten- 
dency of  labor. 

Labor,  to-day,  is  losing  its  power  and  becoming  more 
and  more  dependent  upon  capital.  Not  only  is  this  the 


214     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

condition  of  labor  in  general,  but  there  has  arisen  a  des- 
titute and  degenerate  class  which  is  constantly  growing 
and  which  is  more  degraded  than  any  people  in  the  civil- 
ized nations  of  the  past.  Says  Prof.  Commons :  "  A  new 
race  of  men  is  being  created  with  inherited  traits  of 
physical  and  moral  degeneracy,  suited  to  the  new  en- 
vironment of  the  tenement  house,  the  saloon,  and  the 
jail.  .  .  .  The  great  mass  of  workmen,  when  we  con- 
sider all  their  circumstances,  are  no  better  off  than  they 
were  thirty  years  ago  and  many  are  worse  off." 

While  laborers  may  have  gained  some  few  advantages 
from  the  improvement  which  they  have  made  (and  surely 
it  would  be  strange  if  they  were  not  a  little  benefited  by 
all  they  have  done)  still  the  fact  remains  that  more  work- 
ingmen  now  lack  the  necessaries  of  life  than  ever  before. 
Fifty  years  ago  the  word  tramp  had  not  been  coined. 
Trampdom  is  a  necessary  part  of  capitalist  society. 
Under  Socialism,  where  labor  is  pleasant  and  all  can  find 
employment,  the  word  tramp  would  soon  be  forgotten, 
for  the  tramp-producing  system  would  have  bc*en  abol- 
ished. Conditions  are  rapidly  growing  worse,  and  the 
number  of  the  unemployed  constantly  increasing,  and 
degradation  and  poverty  stalk  hand  in  hand  through  the 
land. 

4.  THAT  CHEAP  PRICES  ARE  BENEFICIAL  TO  LABOR. 

It  is  a  common  error  to  suppose  that  cheap  prices  are 
beneficial  to  labor.  This,  however,  is  erroneous,  for  the 
share  of  wealth  which  labor  keeps  as  wages,  depends 
upon  the  cost  of  the  production  of  labor-power.  The 
cheaper  the  goods,  the  cheaper  the  cost  of  reproducing 
labor-power.  If  the  price  of  commodities  decreases, 
wages  will  also  decrease  in  correspondence.  As  long  as 
labor-power  is  a  commodity,  its  price,  like  that  of  all  other 


POP  ULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  2 1  $ 

commodities,  will  depend  upon  its  cost  of  production. 
The  portion  of  the  product  given  to  labor,  like  the  coal 
placed  in  the  fire-box,  is  to  enable  the  laborer  to  keep 
up  his  steam.  The  capitalist  does  not  part  with  a  larger 
portion  in  either  instance  than  is  necessary  to  accom- 
plish the  purpose. 

As  the  cost  of  labor-power  depends  upon  the  cost  of 
the  necessaries  of  existence,  any  process  which  cheapens 
these  necessaries  only  decreases  the  value  of  the  labor- 
power.  This  lessening  of  the  necessary  labor  adds  pro- 
portionately to  the  surplus-labor.  Cheapening  the 
necessities  of  life,  then,  is  but  cheapening  labor-power. 

If,  under  a  certain  status  of  production,  it  required 
eight  hours  for  the  reproduction  of  the  value  of  labor- 
power  and  certain  improvements  are  introduced  by 
which  the  laborer  can  reproduce  the  value  of  his  labor- 
power  in  five  hours,  then  three  hours  have  been  freed 
and  added  to  the  domain  of  surplus-labor.  It  is  thus  ad- 
vantageous to  capitalists  to  have  cheap  commodities,  for 
in  this  way  labor-power  is  cheapened.  While  cheap  com- 
modities are  beneficial  to  the  middle  and  plutocratic 
classes,  or  to  those  on  fixed  salaries,  it  is  in  no  way  ad- 
vantageous to  proletarians  as  their  wages  are  determined 
by  the  cost  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

Everyone  is  a  consumer  of  necessaries,  and  those  who 
produce  necessaries  have  to  produce  sufficient  for  all. 
Beside  the  idle  rich  there  are  many  other  non-producers, 
such  as  servants,  lackeys,  and  other  satellites  of  the 
wealthy  class.  These  parasites  are  paid  by  the  rich  out 
of  the  surplus  which  they  have  exploited  from  the  useful 
producers.  Of  course,  cheap  commodities  for  the  pro- 
ducers mean  cheap  commodities  for  the  non-producers, 
consequently,  wages  are  lowered  and  the  larger  number 
may  be  withdrawn  from  useful  production.  The  smaller 
the  number  engaged  in  the  production  of  necessaries  the 


2 1 6      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM, 

harder  they  must  work,  for  they  must  produce  sufficient 
food  and  clothing  for  all.  Cheap  commodities,  then,  are 
not  beneficial  to  the  laboring  class.  They  tend  to  de- 
crease wages,  intensify  labor,  and  increase  exploita- 
tion. 

To  recapitulate :  our  present  system  makes  of  labor- 
power  a  mere  commodity,  and  being  such  its  price  is 
controlled  by  the  law  which  determines  the  price  of  all 
commodities.  The  price  of  commodities  is  determined 
by  that  which  is  necessary  for  its  production.  Whatever 
lowers  the  price  of  the  elements  which  enter  into  a  com- 
modity lowers  the  price  of  the  commodity.  The  laborer 
needs  food  and  clothing  that  he  may  place  his  labor- 
power  upon  the  market,  and  whatever  lowers  the  price 
of  these  requisites  lowers  the  price  of  labor-power. 
Cheap  goods  means  cheap  labor-power.  Consequently, 
that  which  lowers  prices  is  not  beneficial  to  labor. 


5.   THAT  FOREIGN  MARKETS  ARE  BENEFICIAL  TO 
LABOR. 

This  is  a  common  error.  We  frequently  hear  people 
sounding  the  praises  of  American  industry  and  rejoicing 
that  our  products  are  going  all  .over  the  civilized  world. 
The  cry  is  constantly  raised,  "  Give  us  more  foreign 
markets."  But  it  is  all  a  delusion.  I  protest  in  behalf  of 
the  unfed,  half-clothed,  and  homeless  millions.  Why 
should  we  rejoice  at  the  spectacle  of  our  machinery,  cot- 
ton cloth,  food  products,  etc.,  going  all  over  the  world  ? 
Where  do  these  goods  come  from  ?  Every  dollar's 
worth  is  wrung  from  the  honest  toil  of  labor.  All  such 
products  represent  surplus-value  which  has  been  appro- 
priated from  the  product  of  the  workers.  We  do  not 
want  foreign  markets  for  the  goods  thus  wrung  from 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  2I/ 

productive  toil.  What  we  do  want  is  that  these  goods 
produced  by  labor  shall  go  to  labor.  If  every  man  re- 
ceived the  full  product  of  his  toil  there  would  be  no 
need  of  a  foreign  market.  It  is  the  business  of  this  na- 
tion to  first  satisfy  the  wants  of  its  own  people.  The 
cry  for  foreign  markets  is  the  cry  of  a  vicious  system  of 
industry.  It  fleeces  the  laborer  of  the  wealth  he  creates 
and  then  seeks  an  outlet  for  the  surplus  abroad.  The 
greater  our  success  in  this  direction  the  greater  the  ex- 
ploitation of  labor  and,  consequently,  the  more  poverty 
and  degradation  at  home.  The  whole  policy  is  infamous, 
born  of  the  necessities  of  an  infamous  system  of  produc- 
tion. How  long  will  the  laborers  rejoice  at  the  oppor- 
tunity of  capitalists  to  sell  foreign  countries  the  bread 
and  butter  out  of  their  own  mouths. 

The  search  for  foreign  markets  is  the  height  of  all 
follies.  Suppose  we  secure  them,  could  they  be  retained  ? 
China,  Japan,  and  India  are  now  adopting  all  our  inven- 
tions and  improvements,  and  will  soon  not  only  produce 
for  themselves  but  will  become  our  competitors.  The 
only  way  foreign  markets  can  be  secured  and  retained 
is  by  producing  cheaper  than  others.  This  means  a  con- 
stantly lowering  wage,  even  below  the  pauper  wages 
of  Europe;  it  means  a  wage  lowered  to  the  level  of 
China,  Japan,  and  Hindoostan.  But  as  wages  decrease, 
so  does  the  consumptive  power  of  labor  and,  conse- 
quently, as  foreign  markets  extend,  home  markets  con- 
tract. Foreign  markets,  then,  so  far  as  labor  is  con- 
cerned are  truly  a  snare  and  a  delusion.  The  cry  for 
them  is  the  death  gasp  of  the  competitive  order. 

Foreign  markets  are  of  no  benefit  whatever  except  to 
add  to  the  profits  of  the  profit  seekers.  Why  should 
laborers  be  deprived  of  the  blessings  of  life,  deprived  of 
an  opportunity  to  read  a  book,  to  take  a  journey,  to 
enjoy  a  social  hour,  simoly  that  they  mav  create  wealth 


31 8       PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

to  keep  others  in  idleness.  Thus  it  will  ever  be  until  la- 
borers learn  to  combine  and  produce  goods  for  their  own 
use  instead  of  profits  for  others.  Be  not  deceived  by  the 
cry  for  foreign  markets.  It  means  the  exploitation  and 
degradation  of  labor. 

6.    THAT  LUXURY  is  BENEFICIAL  TO  LABOR. 

It  is  frequently  said  that  the  luxury  of  the  rich  is 
beneficial  to  labor  because  it  gives  employment.  This 
apology  for  luxury  presupposes  that  what  laborers  want 
is  work,  whereas  it  is  not  work  but  the  results  of  work 
that  is  desired.  This  effort  to  justify  luxury  is  somewhat 
obselete.  Those  making  it  fail  to  realize  that  philan- 
thropic and  productive  expenditures  also  give  employ- 
ment to  labor.  The  mere  fact  that  the  expenditures  in 
luxury  give  employment  to  labor  is  not  sufficient  to  jus- 
tify such  expenditures.  What  we  want  to  know  is  the 
result  of  such  employment.  To  be  sure,  the  payment  of 
wages  in  the  production  of  luxuries  helps  the  workers 
who.  receive  the  wages,  but  such  employment  is  of  no 
help  to  society.  The  only  way  to  help  society  is  to  give 
laborers  useful  employment.  To  employ  labor  in  the  pro- 
duction of  luxuries  is  a  misdirection  of  human  energy. 
But  these  laborers,  although  they  cease  to  produce 
necessaries,  must  still  consume  them.  This  means  that 
those  engaged  in  useful  employment  must  work  just  so 
much  harder  or  so  much  longer,  for  while  the  consumers 
remain  the  same  the  producers  have  been  reduced.  But 
where  do  the  rich  get  the  money  they  spend  in  luxury  ? 
They  fleece  it  from  the  workers.  The  portion  of  the  prod- 
uct which  the  present  system  enables  them  to  appro- 
priate is  more  than  sufficient  to  supply  their  necessities, 
so  the  surplus  is  expended  for  luxuries.  The  more  the 
rich  spend  in  luxury  the  more  men  will  be  withdrawn 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  219 

from  useful  production,  and  the  more  laborers  will  be 
exploited  to  furnish  the  means  of  payment.  Remembw, 
it  is  the  useful  worker  that  keeps  both  the  rich  and  their 
flunkeys.  The  more  consumed  by  these  classes  the  more 
laborers  have  to  produce,  or  else  the  less  they  themselves 
have  to  consume.  The  only  result  of  spending  money 
upon  luxury  is  the  destruction  of  a  large  amount  of 
wealth  and  the  waste  of  a  large  amount  of  labor.  Lux- 
ury, then,  is  not  beneficial  to  labor. 

7.   THAT  LAND  NATIONALIZATION  WOULD  SOLVE  THE 
SOCIAL  QUESTION. 

This  is  the  single  tax  theory  as  set  forth  by  Henry 
George.  Space  will  not  permit  an  examination  and 
refutation  of  all  the  fallacies  contained  in  this  theory.  I 
can  only  refer,  in  a  general  way,  to  the  main  assumption. 
The  adherents  of  the  single  tax  theory  fail  to  recognize 
that  land  and  capital  are  both  requisite  to  production, 
consequently,  they  have  failed  to  perceive  that  the  na- 
tionalization of  one  would  still  leave  the  people  at  the 
mercy  of  the  monopolizers  of  the  other.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  capital  is  the  chief  factor  in  modern  industrialism, 
and  the  monopolization  of  machinery  would  render 
nugatory  any  good  results  that  might  otherwise  accrue 
to  the  people  through  a  socialization  of  the  land. 

Suppose  laborers  to-day  had  free  access  to  the  land, 
would  that  enable  them  to  build  their  own  factories  and 
equip  them  with  modern  machinery  ?  If  so,  why  does 
not  the  small  land  owner  who  finds  farming  unprofitable, 
construct  a  factory  and  engage  in  the  production  of  some 
commodity  ?  Simply  because  he  has  not  the  capital 
to  enable  him  to  do  so.  His  possession  of  the  land  does 
not  enable  him  to  enter  the  field  of  industry  and  com- 
pete with  the  large  capitalist.  II  land  were  nationalized 


220     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

would  he  then  be  any  more  able  to  engage  in  industry 
which  requires  an  ever-increasing  capital  ?  Surely  not. 
Land  nationalization  would  not  open  the  door  of  indus- 
trial employment  to  a  single  individual. 

Nor  is  this  all.  A  man  would  be  no  better  off  in  agri- 
culture, for  here  also  capital  has  become  necessary  to 
successful  production.  The  man  with  the  large  capital, 
able  to  equip  his  farm  with  the  best  steam  and  electric 
machinery,  has  an  advantage  over  the  small  farmer  who 
is  obliged  to  use  inferior  tools.  Were  every  man  to  ob- 
tain his  land  free,  and  as  much  as  he  desired,  it  would 
still  remain  true  that  only  the  man  with  large  capital  at 
his  disposal  could  successfully  utilize  it.  Unless  it  can 
be  shown  that  under  the  single  tax  the  man  with  large 
capital  would  not  have  an  advantage  over  the  small 
farmer,  the  supposed  panacea  must  prove  futile. 

The  fact  is,  agriculture,  like  manufacturing,  has  been 
revolutionized.  Agriculture,  to  be  sure,  is  slower  in  its 
development,  but  its  tendency  is  toward  the  downfall  of 
the  small  agriculturalist.  The  small  farmer  is  unable  to 
compete  with  the  bonanza  farmer,  who  can  produce  more 
cheaply  and  plentifully.  The  single  tax  would  not  alter 
this  relation.  It  is  claimed  that  under  the  single  tax  no 
one  would  be  able  to  secure  more  land  than  he  could 
productively  use.  Be  it  so.  The  changed  methods  of 
agriculture  makes  it  more  profitable  to  work  farms  of 
one  hundred  thousand  acres  than  of  one  hundred  acres. 
If  a  man  has  the  capital  to  equip  land  with  modern  ap- 
pliances there  is  no  end  to  the  quantity  of  land  which  he 
can  productively  use.  If,  as  under  the  single  tax,  land 
could  be  had  gratuitously;  that  is,  by  paying  to  the 
State  its  rental  value,  a  corporation  might  be  formed  to 
cultivate  all  the  arable  land  in  the  country.  At  least,  it 
is  certain,  the  proletarian  would  have  no  chance,  for 
without  unlimited  capital,  agriculture  would  be  out  of 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  221 

the  question.  The  single  tax,  then,  by  placing  land  at 
man's  disposition  would  be  no  solution  of  the  social  prob- 
lems, for  without  the  needed  capital  he  would  be  unable 
to  successfully  cultivate  it.  Socialists,  of  course,  concur 
in  the  demand  for  land  nationalization,  but  dissent  from 
the  proposition  that  this  alone  would  remedy  social 
ills. 

The  fact  is,  Mr.  George  completely  overlooks  the 
changed  methods  of  production.  To  be  accurate,  land 
is  but  one  form  of  capital.  Let  this  be  understood  and 
it  will  be  clearly  seen  that  the  abolition  of  but  one  form 
of  capital  will  effect  no  relief.  Every  reason  given  by 
Mr.  George  for  the  nationalization  of  land  applies  equally 
to  all  the  means  of  production.  Land  stands  related  to 
production  as  other  forms  of  capital.  To  separate  it  from 
capital  is  only  to  confuse.  The  product  of  production 
is  divided  into  two  parts,  wages  and  surplus-value.  It 
makes  no  difference  by  what  terms  the  return  for  the 
use  of  capital  may  be  expressed.  We  may  call  the  re- 
turn for  capital  invested  in  land,  rent;  from  capital 
loaned  as  money,  interest;  from  capital  employed  in 
business,  profits ;  or  from  capital  invested  in  stocks, 
dividends ;  it  is  all  the  same.  All  returns  from  capital 
represent  surplus-value  and  should  be  abolished.  To 
simply  abolish  the  returns  from  one  form  of  capital 
would  not  remove  the  evils  of  capitalism. 

The  single  tax  is  insufficient  to  remedy  the  evils  from 
which  we  suffer.  It  does  not  pretend  to  touch  the  wage 
system  and  competition,  the  real  causes  of  servitude  and 
industrial  crises.  Socialism  is  the  only  remedy.  Capital 
in  all  its  forms  must  become  the  property  of  all  the 
people. 


222     PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


8.   THAT  EXTRAVAGANCE  is  THE  CHIEF  CAUSE  OF 
ECONOMIC  WANT. 

Another  common  error  is  the  supposition  that  extrava- 
gance is  the  chief  cause  of  economic  want.  While  in 
many  instances  this  may  be  true,  it  is  erroneous  to  sup- 
pose that  the  checking  of  extravagance  as  a  whole  would 
remove  the  evils  of  our  present  system,  of  which  poverty 
is  the  greatest. 

Individuals  gain  by  saving,  but  were  all  to  practice 
economy  the  few  would  lose  their  advantage.  This  is 
readily  seen  when  we  realize  that  production  can  only 
be  sustained  by  consumption.  Now  the  laborer  by  the 
expenditure  of  his  whole  income  is  able  to  purchase  but 
about  one-fifth  of  the  value  of  his  product.  It  is  due  to 
this  exploitation  of  labor  that  we  have  the  phenomena 
called  over-production.  This  congestion  of  the  markets, 
then,  is  inevitable,  even  with  the  utmost  extravagance. 
But  now  suppose  the  laborer  saves,  say,  fifty  per  cent, 
of  his  wages.  Is  it  not  seen  that  under  such  conditions 
the  markets  would  be  more  glutted  than  ever  ?  The 
result  of  such  a  state  is  always  business  depressions  and 
crises,  with  their  attendant  suffering  and  want.  Factories 
are  shut  down  and  production  is  suspended,  for  the  sim- 
ple reason  that  there  are  more  goods  than  can  be  profit- 
ably disposed  of.  The  less  the  people  consume  the  more 
quickly  this  condition  of  things  is  brought  about.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  our  industrial  system  would  not  be  able 
to  run  at  all  were  people  to  save  any  considerable 
portion  of  their  incomes.  If  it  cannot  proceed  but  a  few 
years  at  a  time,  even  with  the  extravagant  expenditures, 
what  would  be  the  result  were  the  consumptive  power 
of  the  people  checked  by  economy  ?  The  only  salvation 
for  the  present  order  is  in  extravagance,  in  teaching  the 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  223 

people  to  live  out  their  entire  income,  and  so,  as  far  as 
possible,  relieve  the  congested  markets. 

The  whole  fallacy  lies  right  here.  It  is  seen  that  cer- 
tain individuals  by  parsimony  accumulate  property,  and 
it  is  thought  that  if  all  were  parsimonious  all  would  be 
equally  benefited.  But  this  does  not  follow ;  the  few 
now  gain  at  the  expense  of  their  fellows.  The  great 
majority  spend  their  incomes  and  so  keep  production  in 
motion,  thus  giving  employment  to  the  ones  who  are 
saving,  who  in  turn  lay  aside  a  portion  of'  their  wages 
and  so  are  benefited.  But  were  all  to  save,  production, 
which  can  only  be  sustained  by  consumption,  would 
cease,  thus  depriving  our  parsimonious  friends  of  further 
employment.  They  would  then  have  no  alternative  but 
to  consume  their  accumulated  store,  which,  when  gone, 
would  leave  them  destitute. 

Nothing  can  save  from  economic  want  which  does  not 
stimulate  production  and  promote  industry.  To  have 
all  abstain  from  consumption  is  certainly  a  poor  way  to 
promote  industry.  If  goods  cannot  be  sold  they  cannot 
be  produced,  and  they  cannot  be  sold  unless  people  buy 
them.  The  less  they  buy  the  less  will  be  produced,  and 
consequently,  the  less  labor  will  be  employed.  When 
labor  is  not  employed  there  is  economic  want.  Just  to 
the  extent,  then,  in  which  the  principle  of  saving  is  re- 
duced to  practice  will  people  as  a  whole  suffer  economic 
want.  To  check  extravagance  so  far  from  mitigating 
economic  want  would  greatly  augment  it.  It  is  not  my 
purpose  here  to  discuss  the  causes  of  economic  want, 
that  has  been  done  elsewhere,  but  only  to  point  out  the 
fallacy  of  attributing  the  cause  to  extravagance. 


224    PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 


9.   THAT  SOCIALISM  WOULD  THWART  INVENTIONS 
AND  IMPROVEMENTS. 

It  is  another  economic  error  to  suppose  that  Socialism 
would  thwart  inventions  and  improvements.  It  is  rather 
the  vested  interests  of  the  present  system  that  antagonise 
and  thwart  all  progress. 

The  personal  interest  of  each  individual  is  bound  up 
in  his  particular  occupation  and  calling.  If  he  be  a 
capitalist,  his  capital  is  embarked  in  it;  if  an  artisan, 
the  knowledge  of  his  craft.  In  each  instance  his  interest 
and  consequent  livelihood  is  dependent  upon  his  special 
business.  The  introduction  of  any  new  invention  which 
dispenses  with  that  occupation  means  ruin  to  those  in- 
volved,— the  capitalist  loses  his  capital  and  the  workman 
loses  his  means  of  livelihood.  If  the  'laborers  had  the 
power  they  would  make  short  work  of  those  improve- 
ments which  have  supplanted  their  respective  crafts  and 
left  them  upon  the  streets  begging  for  bread.  The 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  capitalists,  though  less  vio- 
lent is  more  effective.  As  the  initiative  in  production 
comes  from  the  capitalist  he  is  not  disposed  to  intro- 
duce an  innovation  which  will  render  obselete  the  ma- 
chinery in  which  his  capital  is  already  invested.  The 
only  condition  upon  which  he  will  embark  in  the  under- 
taking is  the  full  assurance  -that  the  invention  will  make 
up  for  the  loss  of  the  capital  already  invested.  ,/The 
capitalist  often  finds  its  advantageous  to  purchase  the 
patents  to  keep  them  off  the  market,  for  fear  some  com- 
petitor will  introduce  them  and  thus  secure  an  advan- 
tage. The  stories  of  the  rebuffs  and  difficulties  that  in- 
ventors have  to  contend  with  in  getting  their  inventions 
introduced  are  indeed  pitiable.  And  if  they  succeed  it  is 
only  by  relinquishing  nearly  all  the  hopes  of  profits. 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  22$ 

In  many  fields  machinery  would  be  used  to-day  to  do 
disagreeable  work  were  it  not  cheaper  to  exploit  a  helot 
class.  Under  Socialism  there  would  be  no  such  obstruc- 
tion to  the  introduction  of  improved  methods. 

Says  Prof.  Ely :  "  It  can  hardly  be  questioned  that 
under  Socialism  the  inventive  powers  of  man  would  be 
stimulated  to  provide  machinery  to  do  disagreeable 
work,  and  to  render  work  now  disagreeable  as  agreeable 
as  possible.  The  inventive  power  of  man  now  aims  to 
increase  the  earnings  of  capital,  and  not  chiefly  to  render 
the  task  of  the  toiler  as  light  and  pleasant  as  possible. 
...  It  is  true,  however,  that  in  proportion  as  you  make 
men  valuable,  machinery  does  disagreeable  work. 

"  Now,  it  is  the  essence  of  Socialism  to  insist  upon  the 
value  of  man ;  and  it  is  evident  that  this  new  order  could 
not  fail  to  result  in  a  new  class  of  inventions  and  dis- 
coveries." 

Another  reason  why  there  is  not  more  progress  in 
this  direction  to-day  is  the  fact  that  our  present  system 
is  not  favorable  to  the  development  of  genius.  There  are 
men  of  genius,  men  equipped  and  endowed  by  nature 
for  such  careers,  men  intended  to  be  poets,  artists,  phil- 
osophers, inventors,  but  to  whom  the  development  of 
their  talents  is  forbidden  by  an  economic  system  which 
deprives  them  of  the  opportunity  and  necessary  leisure 
for  the  development  of  their  powers.  We  find  men 
liberally  endowed  among  the  very  dregs  of  society.  So- 
cialism would  secure  to  all  the  conditions  requisite  for 
the  unfolding  of  this  latent  force.  If  a  man  to-day  de- 
velops his  creative  powers  he  must  be  exceptionally  en- 
vironed. For  every  ray  of  genius  that  is  manifested 
there  is  a  wealth  of  capacity  stifled,  which,  if  allowed  to 
unfold,  would  fill  the  world  with  unbounded  glory. 
There  has  been  great  progress  in  this  direction,  but  not 
a  hundredth  part  of  what  would  have  been  accomplished 


226      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

had  workmen  the  leisure  and  means  to  have  developed 
their  ideas.  All  progress  has  been  in  spite  of  an  adverse 
economic  order.  Surround  men  with  a  suitable  environ- 
ment and  genius  would  go  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds. 
This  fact  is  recognized  even  by  the  critics  of  Socialism. 
Prof.  Graham,  in  speaking  of  the  higher  education 
which  all  would  receive  under  Socialism,  says :  '  The 
generality  would  receive  a  higher  education  than  now. 
.  .  .  And  as  this  general  light  and  culture  would  be 
wider  and  deeper,  it  would  awaken  and  ripen  the  seeds 
of  genius  which  now  never  get  an  opportunity;  it  is 
therefore  highly  probable  that  originality  would,  on  the 
whole,  be  greatly  increased.  Certain  it  is  that  new  veins 
of  originality  and  genius  would  be  struck  in  the  virgin 
soil  of  the  hitherto  uncultivated  minds  of  the  mass  which 
would  yield  rich  results." 

Genius  is  not  rare,  as  some  seem  to  suppose,  it  is 
universal.  It  only  lacks  cultivation.  Every  person  has- 
natural  talent  for  some  one  thing.  Socialism  would 
find  out  this  talent  and  develop  it.  With  this  develop- 
ment would  come  increased  inventive  genius,  and  a  new 
era  of  mechanical  improvements  would  dawn  that  would 
far  surpass  even  the  dreams  of  the  most  enthusiastic. 
Socialism  would  substitute  machines  for  men  in  every 
department  of  production.  In  the  Co-operative  Com- 
monwealth steam  and  electricity  would  do  the  work. 
These  do  not  tire  and  cannot  be  brutalized.  Socialism, 
then,  instead  of  thwarting  inventions  and  improvements, 
would  inaugurate  a  new  era  of  mechanical  progress,  the 
possibilities  of  which  are  undreamed  of  to-day. 

10.  THAT  SOCIALISM  WOULD  DESTROY  INDIVIDUALITY, 

Another  economic  error  is  the  supposition  that  Social- 
ism would  destroy  individuality  and  make  everybody 


POPULAR  ECONOMIC  ERRORS.  22/ 

alike.  The  reason  for  this  inference  is  not  clear,  although 
it  must  be  admitted  to  be  typical  of  this  age  in  which 
men  are  reduced  to  a  money  valuation.  The  assumption 
seems  to  be  that  any  movement  toward  economic  equality 
would  destroy  individuality.  This,  however,  is  the  re- 
verse of  the  fact.  Is  it  true  to-day  that  those  receiv- 
ing equal  incomes  are  monotonously  alike  ?  It  is 
rather  inequality  which  suppresses  individuality  and 
p  ompts  imitation  of  superiors.  This  tendency  toward 
uniformity  is  due  to  the  lack  of  equality  in  economic  con- 
ditions. The  inferior  classes  strive  to  imitate  the  superior 
classes  in  order  to  avoid  an  apparent  social  inferiority. 
The  result  is,  society  is  continually  run  in  the  same 
groove.  On  the  other  hand,  any  system  which  would 
tend  to  decrease  economic  inequality  would  tend  to  kill 
imitation.  Just  in  proportion  as  men  become  equal  they 
cease  to  gain  by  imitating  each  other.  It  is  always 
among  equals  that  we  find  true  independence. 

Thus  the  levelling  process,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is 
not  one  of  men  but  of  opportunities.  It  is  only  when 
men  stand  upon  the  level  of  equal  opportunities  that  the 
differences  in  human  endowments  are  manifest.  So  long 
as  men  are  surrounded  by  artificial  conditions  and  op- 
portunities, due  to  present  economic  inequality,  .it  will 
be  impossible  to  tell  what  differences  are  natural  and 
what  are  due  to  the  artificial  environment.  Socialism, 
which  guarantees  equality  in  opportunity,  is  the  only 
condition  under  which  true  individuality  can  be  de- 
veloped. In  fact,  originality  and  independence  can  only 
be  secured  when  all  are  guaranteed  the  bases  of  liveli- 
hood. Before  men  can  really  live  they  must  be  freed 
from  the  struggle  to  live. 

A  system  must  be  judged  by  its  ability  to  procure  the 
development  of  the  individual.  Judged  by  this  standard 
our  competitive  order  stands  condemned.  What  oppor- 


228      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM, 

tunity  has  the  average  worker  for  development  ?  Take 
the  toilers  in  the  sweatshops,  the  toilers  on  mortgaged 
farms,  the  delvers  in  mines,  the  millions  of  the  unem- 
ployed,— where  is  their  opportunity  for  individual  de- 
velopment ?  No,  it  is  not  Socialism  but  capitalism 
wm'ch  deprives  men  of  individuality  and  initiative.  The 
man  who  for  ten  hours  a  day  sacrifices  the  best  that  is  in 
him  to  the  exactions  of  our  industrial  life  has  no  time 
left  to  develop  his  higher  individuality.  Who  has  the 
greater  opportunity  to  develop  his  individuality,  even 
under  the  present  system, — the  man  who  works  for  the 
government  or  the  one  who  works  for  a  private  capital- 
ist ?  The  rush  for  governmental  positions  answers  the 
question.  Under  Socialism  all  would  have  opportunity 
to  develop,  and  individuality,  for  the  first  time,  would  be 
free.  Socialism  would  destroy  this  false  individualism  in 
order  that  true  individuality  might  blossom  in  its  full- 
ness. 


CONCLUSION.  229 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CONCLUSION. 

THE  growth  of  Socialism  has  been  phenomenal.  It 
has  swept  with  amazing  rapidity  over  the  civilized  coun- 
tries of  the  globe.  It  is  a  world-wide  economy,  based 
upon  universal  principles,  and  destined  to  usher  in  a 
higher  state  of  civilization. 

This  consummation  is  sure  of  attainment,  but  it  may 
be  hindered  by  measures  designed  to  resuscitate  the  old 
order  out  of  which  we  have  evolved.  While  we  are  ever 
ready  to  give  our  support  to  any  movement  which  is  a 
step  in  advance,  we  refuse  to  be  a  party  to  any  effort  to 
bring  back  the  past.  Our  work  is  progressive — the 
bringing  in  of  the  new  order  by  helping  forward  the 
economic  evolution. 

To-day  the  forces  of  retrogression  are  battling  with 
the  forces  of  progress.  It  is  a  question  every  man  should 
ask  himself,  Which  side  am  I  upon  ?  The  situation  is 
becoming  more  and  more  serious  every  day  and  the 
signs  of  revolution  are  manifest  to  the  careful  observer. 
Whether  the  coming  revolution  shall  be  by  ballots  or 
bullets  depends  upon  the  education  of  the  masses  on  the 
social  question. 

Socialists  have  a  great  responsibility  resting  upon 
them.  Into  their  hands  has  been  committed  the  new 
gospel.  By  faithful  and  diligent  effort  they  may  avert 
the  danger  which  threatens  the  twentieth  century.  This 
danger  lies  in  an  unintelligent  resentment  of  wrongs 
that  are  not  distinctly  understood.  If  men  resent  social 


230      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

wrongs  without  thoroughly  comprehending  their  nature, 
it  may  result  in  civil  war  and  the  reestablishment  of  so- 
ciety, but  without  any  marked  improvement. 

Socialists,  and  Socialists  alone,  have  correctly  diag- 
nosed the  cause  of  the  present  evils  and  prescribed  the 
true  remedy.  It  is  their  mission  to  carry  the  gospel  of 
emancipation  to  others — to  be  missionaries  of  progress 
and  civilization.  It  is  chiefly  into  the  hands  of  the  prole- 
tariat that  this  commission  is  entrusted.  The  proletariat 
includes  all  who  do  not  possess  property  in  the  instru- 
ments of  production.  While  individual  members  of  the 
proprietor  class  here  and  there  may  apprehend  the  truths 
of  Socialism  and  lend  themselves  to  the  cause,  still,  as  a 
class,  we  need  not  expect  them  to  take  the  initiative  or 
aid  in  carrying  forward  the  movement  for  the  abolition  of 
the  present  system  of  industry. 

The  economic  struggle  is  necessarily  a  class  struggle, 
a  struggle  between  the  proprietor  class  and  the  non-pro- 
prietor class.  The  subjection  of  the  working  class  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  instruments  of  production  and  dis- 
tribution are  the  private  property  of  another  class.  The 
interests  of  these  two  classes  being  diametrically  opposed 
a  class  struggle  is  inevitable.  The  proletariat  must  work 
out  its  own  salvation  and  the  triumph  of  the  proletariat 
means  the  triumph  of  Socialism.  The  proletariat  is 
bound  to  put  an  end  to  its  own  exploitation  and  the 
only  way  by  which  this  can  be  accomplished  is  by  the 
abolition  of  the  private  ownership  of  the  instruments  of 
production  and  distribution.  The  emancipation  of  labor 
can  only  be  wrought  by  a  united  effort  of  wage-earners 
along  the  line  of  their  class  interests,  assisted  by  such 
members  of  the  other  classes  as  understand  the  economic 
question  and  possess  sufficient  moral  courage  to  be  true 
to  their  convictions. 

That  this  struggle  for  freedom  should  express  itself 


CONCLUSION.  231 

in  political  action  is  inevitable.  Class  interests  always 
express  themselves  in  class  politics.  As  the  laborer  seeks 
to  better  his  condition  he  comes  in  conflict  with  the  gov- 
erning power  which  is  in  the  possession  of  the  capitalist 
class.  The  ruling  class  of  all  ages  has  always  determined 
the  form  and  administration  of  government,  as  well  as 
fashions  and  customs,  codes  of  ethics,  etc.,  and  always  in 
its  own  interest.  The  capitalist  class  is  to-day  the  ruling 
class,  having  wrested  the  governing  pov/er  from  the  old 
landed  nobility,  and  wherever  labor  seeks  its  rights  it 
finds  itself  thwarted  by  this  class  under  the  disguise  of 
government.  To-day  the  courts,  the  laws,  the  press,  the 
legislatures,  the  police,  the  state  and  national  troops,  and 
often  the  pulpit,  are  dominated  and  controlled  by  this 
ruling  class.  This  condition  makes  it  necessary  for  the 
proletariat  to  master  the  governing  power.  An  intelli- 
gent use  of  the  ballot  on  the  part  of  the  working  class 
would  gain  for  them  the  control  of  the  political  power. 
In  the  effort  to  achieve  this  end,  accept  no  political  pal- 
liative. Any  measure  which  does  not  tend  to  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  wage  system  is  unworthy  of  support.  The 
laboring  class  must  learn  that  it  need  expect  nothing 
from  any  political  party  that  does  not  stand  squarely 
upon  the  Socialist  demand  to  wrench  from  the  exploiting 
class  the  political  and  economic  weapons  of  exploita- 
tion. No  such  uncompromising  demand  as  this  will 
ever  be  made  by  any  of  the  political  divisions  of  the 
capitalist  class.  If  the  laborers  are  to  achieve  their  end 
they  must  stand  united  in  the  political  field  on  a  platform 
of  their  own,  demanding  the  complete  abolition  of  the 
exploiting  system.  There  are  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  workers  who,  to-day,  are  thus  standing,  conscious  of 
their  class  interests  and  endeavoring  to  bring  about  the 
fulfillment  of  the  mission  which  the  economic  evolution 
has  assigned  to  them.  To-day  we  see  the  manual  and 


232      PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIALISM. 

mental  laborers  of  the  world,  uniting  in  mighty  class- 
conscious  bodies,  preparing  themselves  for  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  the  final  work  in  economic  and  social 
evolution.  Have  you  joined  this  great  army  in  the  uni- 
versal struggle  for  freedom  ?  If  not,  why  not  ?  Why 
longer  waste  your  efforts  in  the  old  political  parties 
which  are  but  handmaids  of  the  capitalist  class  ?  Their 
chief  object  is  to  divide  laborers  into  various  factions, 
fighting  against  each  other,  and  so  prevent  the  laborers 
from  uniting  to  secure  their  freedom.  The  petty  politi- 
cal issues  which  such  parties  raise  are  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  fleecing  the  laborers  on  the  one  hand  and  throw- 
ing dust  into  their  eyes  on  the  other  lest  they  see  the 
only  real  question  at  issue — Socialism  vs.  Capitalism. 

Be  not  deceived  !  Laborers,  you  have  no  interest  in 
the  success  or  failure  of  parties  composed  of  classes 
whose  interests  are  antagonistic  to  your  own.  Do  not 
throw  away  your  ballot  then  by  voting  for  that  which 
you  do  not  want.  As  has  been  well  said,  "  You  had  bet- 
ter vote  for  what  you  want  and  not  get  it,  than  vote  for 
what  you  don't  want  and  get  it."  But,  friends,  we  shall 
get  what  we  want.  Socialism  is  the  outcome  of  industrial 
evolution.  That  Socialism  will  follow  capitalism  is  as 
certain  as  that  light  will  follow  darkness.  Its  speedy 
realization  depends  upon  the  faithfulness  and  devotion 
of  those  who  have  seen  the  light.  Its  advent,  however, 
is  not  so  far  distant  as  often  thought.  The  rapid  growth 
of  the  Socialist  vote  evidences  that  salvation  is  nigh.  We 
are  blessed,  in  that  the  opportunity  is  ours  to  help  usher 
in  the  brighter  day.  No  people  ever  had  a  nobler  cause, 
or  one  that  should  inspire  greater  enthusiasm. 


THE  END. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Agriculture,  planless  method  of, 
69,  70 ;  economy  of,  under 
Socialism,  70,  71  ;  wages  in, 
213;  changed  conditions  of, 
220. 

Altruism,  law  of,  161-163. 

B. 

Bascom,  John,  on  divorce,  no; 
on  the  wage  system,  124. 

Baumgarti,  on  economy  of  com- 
bination, 192. 

Bebel,  on  economic  oppression, 
26. 

Blachford,  Robert,  on  genius, 
172. 

Buckle,  on  reform,  28. 

C.        • 

Capita),  use  of,  in  production, 
37-39;  constant  and  variable, 
193;  how  preserved,  144,  145. 

Capitalists,  origin  of,  1 1  ;  down- 
fall of  small.  22  ;  superfluous, 
23,  38,  126,  143,  209;  interests 
opposed  to  laborers,  207-210, 
62 ;  Socialism  beneficial  to, 

94-97- 

Capitalism,  conditions  requisite 
to,  ii,  12;  origin  of,  12-15; 
unchristian,  105;  destroys  in- 
dividuality, 227,  228. 


Carlyle,  on  liberty,  138. 

Casson,  Herbert,  on  paupers 
and  millionaires,  123. 

Children,  care  and  training  of, 
87-89. 

Civilization,  law  which  has  made 
for,  161-175. 

Class  Struggle,  28-34,  210,  230- 
232. 

Commons,  Prof.,  on  the  home, 
86 ;  on  crime  and  intemper- 
ance, 115,  117,  119;  on  the 
condition  of  labor,  214. 

Communism,  early  form  of,  10. 

Competition,  elimination  of,  24, 
25,  169;  wastes  of,  67-83; 
selfishness  of,  102,  103 ;  evils 
of,  165-169,  174. 

Crises  and  Industrial  Depres- 
sions, 176-190. 

Crime,  elimination  of,  114-116. 

D. 

Demand  and  Supply,  40-42,  150. 

Directors,  efficient,  89,  90. 

Dishonesty,  abolition  of,  106- 
lio. 

Divorce,  restriction  of,  no,  in. 

Distribution,  method  and  econ- 
omy of,  under  Socialism,  71- 

74- 

Dividends,  origin  of,  208. 
Dodge,    Prof.,    on    agricultural 

wages,  213. 

[233] 


»34 


INDEX. 


E. 

Education,  present  system  hos- 
tile to,  87,  88 ;  Socialism  fa- 
vorable to,  226. 

Elizabeth,  Act  of,  15. 

Ely,  Prof.,  on  the  industrial  re- 
volution, 18;  on  early  Ameri- 
can industry,  20  ;  on  demand 
and  supply,  41 ;  on  tele- 
graphs, 79 ;  on  advantages  of 
Socialism,  101  ;  on  divorce, 
in;  on  intemperance,  118; 
on  industrial  depressions,  189; 
on  new  inventions  under  So- 
cialism, 225. 

Environment,  importance  of, 
108-110. 

Errors,  popular  economic,  200- 
228. 

Extravagance,  not  cause  of  want, 
222,  223. 

F. 

Family,  origin  of,  9,  161 ;  de- 
struction of,  85. 

Fawcett,  Prof.,  on  farming,  71. 

Feudal  Lords,  impoverishment 
of,  13;  usurpation  of,  14. 

Feudalism,  10,  n. 

Foreign  Markets,  capitalist  need 
of,  186-188;  not  beneficial  to 
labor,  216-218. 

G. 

George,   Henry,  on  value,  39, 

40. 

Genius,  172,  225,  226. 
Godard,    George,   on    poverty, 

124. 
Golden  Age,  only  possible  under 

Socialism,  104,  105. 
Government,   simplification   of, 

93,  94- 


Gladden,  Dr.,  on  wages,  156. 
Graham,    Prof.,    on    education 

under  Socialism,  226. 
Greed,  not  cLief  motive  of  man, 

171-174- 

Gronlund,  L.,  on  Denmark 
courts,  74. 

Guilds,  suppression  of,  14. 

Gunton,  George,  on  function  of 
capita],  38  ;  on  supply  and  de- 
mand, 41 ;  on  intemperance, 
119. 

H. 

Handicraft,  period  of,  10,  19. 

Henry  VIII.,  crimes  against  la- 
bor, 13,  14. 

Herron,  Dr.,  on  competition  and 
civilization,  162,  169. 

Hertzka,  Prof.,  on  economy  of 
Socialism,  77. 

Holmes,  G.  K.,  on  concentration 
of  wealth,  30. 

Human  nature,  not  bad,  108, 
109,  171. 

Hyndman,  H.  M.,  on  sale  of 
labor-power,  200. 

I. 

Immigration,  effect  of  prohibi- 
tion of,  on  labor,  196. 

Incentive  to  labor,  under  Social- 
ism, 170-175. 

Individuality,  not  destroyed  by 
Socialism,  226-228. 

Industry,  period  of  small,  10,  n, 
19;  manufacturing,  15,  16,  19; 
modern,  16-22,  development 
of  modern,  22-27 ;  evolution 
of,  9-34;  motives  to,  170-175; 
revolution  of,  16-19. 

Intemperance,  prevention  of, 
1 16-121. 

Insanity,  cause  of,  iio-I2I. 

Interest,  142-147. 


•INDEX. . 


Inventions,  early,  16,  17;  new, 
196-198  ;  use  of,  under  Social- 
ism, 198,  199,  225;  not  thwart- 
ed by  Soaalism,  224-226. 

J- 

Joint  Stock  Companies,  origin 
of,  22,  23  ;  extent  of,  143,  227. 

K. 

Kerrs  Dr.,  on  intemperance, 
III. 

L. 

Labor,  wage,  origin  of,  n;  gold- 
en age  of  English,  13;  down- 
fall of,  15,25,  26;  emancipa- 
tion of,  26,  27,  32,  139,  1 60, 
230-232  ;  source  and  measure 
of  value,  36-41 ;  meaning  of 
social,  42-45 ;  necessary  and 
surplus,  61 ;  compensation 
under  Socialism,  43;  exploi- 
tation of,  53-65,  183-185,  200- 
203,  208;  relative  condition  of, 
63,  111-114;  quality  of,  de- 
preciating, 150,  151  ;  motives 
to,  under  Socialism,  170-175; 
displaced  by  machinery,  196- 
198. 

Laborers,  cause  of  servitude, 
25,  26,  128,  132-139,  157- 
159;  Socialism  beneficial  to, 
97-101 ;  not  usefully  employed, 
126-128  ;  interests  opposed  to 
capitalists,  207-210,  62;  dis- 
placed by  machinery,  196- 
198. 

Labor-power,  sale  of,  58-60,  137, 
202;  value  of,  how  determined, 
58-64,  149-157,  214-216;  use 
and  exchange  value  of,  59,  60, 
200-203. 


Land,  private  ownership  of,  14  r, 
142;  nationalization  of,  no 
solution  of  social  problem, 
219-221. 

Legislation,  cause  of,  93,  94. 

Luxury,  not  beneficial  to  labor, 
218,  219. 

M. 

Machinery,  function  of,  in  pro- 
duction, 38,  39,  56-58 ;  effect 
of  improved,  on  value,  47,48; 
problem  of  labor  saving,  191- 
199;  effect  of,  on  laborers, 
195-198  ;  use  of,  under  Social- 
ism, 198,  199,  225,  226. 

Mauufacturers,  origin  and  period 
of,  15-19. 

Marx,  on  the  machine,  17,  18  ; 
on  transition  to  Socialism, 34  ; 
on  measure  of  value,  41,  48; 
on  supply  and  demand,  41 ; 
on  skilled  labor,  43 ;  on  sur- 
plus value,  53;  on  cost  of  liv- 
ing, 150. 

Maybell,  Stephen,  on  legislation, 
94- 

McCulloch,  on  value,  37. 

Middle  Class,  downfall  of,  21-33; 
bound  to  present  system,  33, 
230. 

Monetary  Question,  solution  of, 
91,  92. 

Morris,  William,  on  competition, 
168. 

O. 

Over-production,  69,  177,  180, 
185,  187,  188,  222. 

P. 

Parsons,  Prof.,  on  progress,  163. 
Peasants,  revolt  of,  12-  expro- 
priation of,  13-15. 


INDEX. 


Philips,  Wendell,  on  emancipa- 
tion of  labor,  28. 
Poverty,  cause  and  cure,  122- 

131- 

Political  action,  necessity  of,  32, 
1 60,  230-232. 

Prices,  how  determined,  40,  41, 
55,  201-206;  cheap,  not  bene- 
ficial to  labor,  214-216. 

Production,  individual,  11;  early 
form  of,  9-11,  177;  manufac- 
turing, 15,  16;  modern  me- 
chanical, 16-34;  social,  26, 
27,  210;  capitalist  and  labor 
cost  of,  64,  65,  200-206;  to- 
day and  under  Socialism,  66- 
71,  178-183. 

Progress,  law  of,  161-175. 

Proletariat,  origin  of,  13-15; 
mission  of,  28,  29,  32,  230,  231. 

Prosperity,  under  capitalism, 
1 88,  189. 

Prostitution,  prevention  of,  in— 
114. 

R. 

Rent,  140-142,  146,  147. 

Ricardo,  on  value,  37  ;  on  sup- 
ply and  demand,  40  ;  on  qual- 
ities of  labor,  44  ;  on  price  ol 
labor,  149. 

Risk,  compensation  for,  143, 
144. 

Rodbertus,  on  value,  36,  37  ;  on 
wages,  156. 

Rogers,  Prof.,  on  English  labor, 

13- 

Ruskin,  on  right  to  property, 
128;  on  slavery,  1 36 ;  on  re- 
ward of  abstinence,  144 ;  on 
government  and  anarchy,  175. 

S. 

Sanial,  Lucian,  on  distribution 
of  wealth,  30,  31  ;  on  chil- 
dren employed,  88. 


Sanborn,  Edward,  on  commer- 

cialtravele  rs,  76. 
Standard  of  living,  meaning  of, 

152-158. 
Savage,  Rev.  M.  J.,  on  progress, 

163. 
Schaffle,  Dr.,   on  money  under 

Socialism,  91. 
Selfishness,    abolition    of,    102, 

103. 

Serfdom,  10-12. 
Servitude,    cause    of,    26,    128, 

132-139. 
Shearman,    T.     G.,    on   wealth 

concentration,  30. 
Slavery,  origin  of,  10;  wage  -vs. 

chattel,  132-139  ;   meaning  of, 

135- 
Smith,    Adam,     on    labor  and 

value,  50. 
Social   Labor  Day,  meaning  o£, 

45-47- 

Socialism,  advantages  of,  66- 
101  ;  not  governmentalis«M. 
93 ;  beneficial  to  capitalists, 
94-97  ;  beneficial  to  laborers, 
97-101  ;  evidences  of  the 
moral  strength  of,  102-121; 
its  spirit  and  aim,  102-106; 
motives  to  work  under,  170- 
175;  numerical  strength  of, 
109,  no. 

Sprague,  Rev.  F.  M.,  on  ab- 
stract labor,  42. 

T. 
Taussig,  Prof.,  on  early  Amer 

ican  Industry,  21. 
Taxation,  abolition  of,  92,  93. 
Toynbee,   Prof.,  on    pauperism 

of  the  i6th  century,  14. 
Trusts,  origin  and  meaning  of, 

23-28  ;  economy  of,  192. 

U. 
Utility,  meaning  of,  35,  36. 


INDEX. 


237 


V. 

Value,  analysis  of,  35-52,  200- 
206  ;  how  effected  by  machin- 
ery, 38,  47,  48;  use  and  ex- 
change, 35,  36,  49,  50,  53; 
not  a  relation  between  ex- 
changeable things,  39-41 ; 
source  and  measure  of,  36- 
4r>  S^,  575  unit  of,  under 
Socialism,  45 ;  present  unit 
of,  51,  52;  surplus,  origin  of, 
53-65,  201-203. 

W. 

Wages,  law  of,  148-162;  mean- 
ing of,  148,  149;  average  rate 
of,  212,  213;  how  determined, 
58,  59,  149-157,  214-216;  ef- 
fect of  supply  and  demand  of 
labor  on,  150. 

Wastes  of  capitalism,  from  pro- 


duction, 67;  from  distribu- 
tion, 71;  from  useless  voca- 
tions, 74,  126-128;  from  rail- 
ways, 78;  from  telegraphs, 
79 ;  from  gas  plants,  79 ; 
from  electric  light,  80  ;  from 
enforced  idleness,  80 ;  from 
strikes  and  lockouts,  81 ;  from 
needless  charity,  83  ;  from  idle 
consumption,  etc.,  83,  165-- 
169. 

Wealth,  concentration  of,  29-31. 

Webb,  Sidney,  on  the  Joint 
Stock  Co.,  23. 

Wells,  on  cost  of  wheat  produc- 
tion, 71. 

Willard,  Francis  E.,  on  the  so- 
cial evil,  112;  on  intemper- 
ance, 1 20. 

Women,  elevation  of,  under  So- 
cialism, 84-87. 

Woolsey,  Dr.,  on  crime  undex 
Socialism,  115. 


43 


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